Perfectionism
by Winter 'neechan
Summary: Namine's view on her life, from CoM to KH2, including a few little bits of fluff, humor from Axel, her thoughts on DiZ, her wish to reach "perfection" and bring an end her loneliness, as well as why that plan fell through. Mostly cannon, updated weekly. Now headed into KH2 timeline!
1. Beginning to Doubt

**A/N: Soooooo, here's yet another Namine fic from me, though this one follows the events of Namine's life (hopefully) from CoM, through Days, and into KH2** **her point of view little bits of headcanon and opinions thrown in. Hopefully you readers enjoy reading**** it as much as I do writing it! Please note that this is partly taken from both the game and the manga(because I find certain bits of the manga quite interesting and good adds to the storyline) and I'm going off the GBA version, which is different from the PS2 remake in a few ways. Anyway, have fun!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just the story idea! ...And maybe the little non-canon events...  
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><p><strong>Chapter 1-Beginning to Doubt<strong>

She was a perfectionist. The fact was as simple and as widely known as her hair color or eye color among those who knew her. Maybe it was due to her love of art and the wish to capture her ideas perfectly on paper; maybe it had manifested from the subconscious insecurity brought on by the knowledge that she was drastically imperfect; maybe it had come from the need to perfect her incredibly imperfect world—no one really knew or took the time to figure out why. They just took that knowledge and used it against her. When she disagreed with something they told her to do, they would dangle the offer of perfection before her. "Don't you want to be perfect? Don't you want to have friends?" They would ask her—that was her cue to sit down, shut up, and do what they told her to no matter her objections.

She hated that caged effigy of herself that hung some distance away from her chair. Hatedhatedhatedhated_hated_ it, even if she couldn't really feel hate. That would remind her of her own imperfections, and then she would get annoyed with herself, only to realize she couldn't really be annoyed, either. The cycle was vicious, and they wouldn't fix it or let her fix it. She didn't care what it stood for, just that the doll was off center and made the cage tilt to on side ever so slightly. She hated it. And that started the whole cycle again.

She didn't like the way _he_ seemed to like to toy with her, play on her need for perfection. Angle the table to one side, move her chair, push her pencils off center, anything to irritate her and push her work back so he could then yell at her when she was behind. She didn't like it when he took to watching over her shoulder, just _trying_ to irritate her and set her back.

The only one remotely nice to her was the redhead, Axel, wasn't it? She didn't like it when he sat on the table when he could pull up a chair, but that was really the only thing he did that bothered her. He talked, but she didn't mind because he wasn't playing on her perfectionist tendencies.

"I met him today, your friend-to-be. Real charmer, lots of annoying questions and quite prone to overreacting." She looked up from where the tip of her blue crayon met paper—she was drawing the ocean stretching out forever before she and her "friend-to-be" as he had just been called. Blue eyes the same ocean blue as the crayon lifted to meet bright green ones for a moment.

"You met him?" The tiny, shy question was almost filled with awe.

"Sure did. Mr. Flower Petals was pretty mad about it, too." He grinned at her like he found "Mr. Flower Petals'" anger funny. She shuddered. "But it was worth it, he was fun to fight and I'm friends with someone like him." Friends? She wondered for the first time. Even imperfects like them could have friends? Why did she have to make herself perfect to have friends and they did not? Then something else registered.

"You fought him? Is he okay?"

Axel laughed at her. "More like knocked him around a little and then let him win. He's a bit more capable than you are, _Nami_." He teased her with that irritating shortening of her name, leaning closer to her face from his seat on the table, grinning like that weird purple cat from that madman's world in the boy's memories.

"Namine. My name is Namine." She responded flatly, suddenly bold. Axel's smile didn't fade, but she did see a flash of what might have been surprise in his eyes before he backed away and sat upright, then smirked.

"Fine, _Namine_. " He snickered as he stood up and then walked away. "Seeya." And then he was gone.

And so began the perfectionist's doubts.

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><p><strong>AN: Whoo, first chapter down! I hope to update this weekly, but who knows how that will actually work out... But I also have a four chapter cushion to keep it up****... Anyway, please review if you liked this, or have any comments or questions.** **Seeya next week!**


	2. Imperfections

**A/N: Annnnnd chapter 2 is here! Anyway, again, I did take ideas from the manga here-especially in this chapter. Also, to avoid confusion here, a conversation with a ****friend turned up an interesting theory about Namine that she might have been almost a personification of Aqua's spell on Kairi, which is also implented this chapter, giving her both a bit of Aqua's memories as well as Kairi's memories****... Anyway thanks goes to Chibi for betaing for me, now on to the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any other way than the fact I bought copies of the games and manga****, but I do own the idea for this story and (mostly) the theory about Nami and Aqua (as far as I know) the rest of the credit goes to Char for that theory.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2-Imperfections<strong>

Sometimes, she thought she remembered things, though she knew they weren't her memories. Not the old woman's story, not the blue things that weren't Heartless or the flower-filled town they chased "her" through, not the blue haired woman, nor the sleeping boy who was located someplace in the Castle that she had never physically seen, or the tall, brown haired man. She wasn't the one who made the star-shaped charms (though she borrowed the idea in "giving" him her own charm), she couldn't cast spells, but she was a witch in her own right with her ability to change _his_ memory. She had no friends though the memories contained quite a few. She had never left the white-walled Castle her "life" had begun in, yet she remembered other worlds beyond this that were full of color and people that were kind…

She was even more imperfect than she originally thought. It was something that immensely bothered her, as it gave her more to fix. As if she didn't already have enough to fix! She would try, though.

And so time went on, stuck in the white room drawing her existence away and listening to various rants from the others while she silently wished she could be free of them and be perfect when she did. Axel came by often to give her updates on him and how her work seemed to be progressing. He remembered her now, he said, and that gave her hope. It was wrong, she knew, to wipe out another's existence and replace it with her own to make herself his light, but she could become perfect no other way, they said. That was where the perfectionist side of her kicked in again, and she forced herself to keep working. She hoped that maybe he would save her from them; they wanted him wrapped around her little finger so they could use her to control him, but the perfectionist had other plans. She didn't want to be used any more, and he didn't deserve to be hurt any more. Her doubts fueled this feeling of rebellion, but she wasn't quite sure how to carry it out.

Then the replica was rather unceremoniously thrown across her table, scattering papers everywhere. "Give him memories, the same ones you gave the other." That's what the mean blonde told her, and then left. The replica with blue-green eyes and silver hair stared at her, still frozen from being thrown, while she was still frozen in surprise, red crayon still in hand, though both hands were snatched away from the table. From the jumble of memories she contained, all of them cried out the same name she spoke out of sheer curiosity.

"…Riku?"

"Fake. Not the real thing, it's a replica of the mad scientist's." She blinked, her head swiveling around to find Axel standing in the doorway. "You better do what Sparky McZapZap says and give him those memories, _Nami._" With a smirk and a turn, he was gone, leaving the perfectionist with more work and a bit of annoyance she couldn't really feel at his reverting back to that irritating nickname.

"It's _Namine_." She repeated, glaring after him.

"Namine?" Her head snapped back to look at the replica, still lying across her table.

"Yes," she sighed, standing to pick up the scattered papers that had fallen across the floor. "Namine's my name." The replica pushed itself up and joined her, picking up pictures as well.

"What are all of these? Did you draw every one of these pictures?" it inquired, she nodded.

"I drew every single one of them, and I have lots more to go. They're the memories of another, but they'll be your memories soon, too. Because that's what they told me to do, and I have to do everything they tell me if I want to become perfect. They say I have to be perfect if I want to have friends." She told it matter-of-factly, looking down at the one on the top of her stack—her "friend-to-be" and herself standing on a beach, watching a meteor shower.

"You're never going to be perfect. No matter what they say, it'll never happen—everyone has flaws. It's impossible to be perfect." it responded emotionlessly.

The papers hit the floor with a crackling thud and sprayed across the floor. She stood frozen once more, it was like he had slapped her. If she couldn't be perfect, why was she doing any of this? What was the point? Why was she hurting him if she could never be perfect and be with him?

"Namine? Namine…?" The replica asked her, sounding somewhere between worry and curiosity.

"…I think you should sit down and be quiet now." She replied absently. About a million thoughts were buzzing through her head, all being systematically shot down. She could never escape the imperfections? What was she doing any of this for, then?

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for this chapter, hopefully everyone liked it! With chapter 3, chapters will get longer, not to mention a bit more interesting (well, in my opinion). Until then, enjoy, and please review if you liked this chapter or have any comments/questions in general-I love hearing feedback! **


	3. Decided

**A/N: Wahoo! Finally! Chapter three is here! Anyway, I absolutely love this chapter to bits, as I love can picture Nami's little "field trip" in my head almost perfectly and I find it adorable. :) Anyway, thanks to Chibi for betaing again, and those who commented/favorited this fic (yes, I know you're the same two people, and you're awesome in my book, lol). Anyway, this chapter not only marks the start of some real action pretty canon to the storyline, but on top of that, I ended up referencing a game script for lines, so thank you, dragonblade3325 from GameFAQs, for being amazing enough to have put up the entire original CoM script up online.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas and a good few OCs (which don't appear here and probably never will).**

**Now, on with the fic!**

**Chapter 3-Decided**

They lost most interest in bugging her once they had him practically in their black-gloved palms, they were so preoccupied with what he was doing now that they didn't seem to care much about what she did, so long as it drew Sora closer to her in the end. They didn't realize how she'd been changing, trying to work a hole in their plan that would allow her to escape unharmed with him so she could fix her mistake. That was what it had become to her: A huge mistake that she needed to fix before it tore her to pieces and destroyed him. Axel was helping it along with his visits, talking to her about nothing, really, giving her updates on how things were going without gloating too much, and sneaking her out for "fresh-air breaks" in a world that was new to her—

"Come on, you can't want to _stay _cooped up in here! Live a little, five minutes of freedom, that's all. You'll like it, trust me!" He pleaded; of course, that was what she was afraid of. It was a petty excuse for him to get out and stretch his legs, but there was always that danger there. If she did like it, who would keep her from trying to abandon all reason and Sora with it?

"Tha—" She started as she looked back down to her sketchbook, brown crayon in hand to draw his spiky hair, but she stopped as another cut her off.

"No, absolutely _not_!" The replica thundered, attempting to get in Axel's face, a venture that was unsuccessful before it began, as Axel towered above both of them. "_I'm_ supposed to protect Namine, and this idea is _ridiculous_ and dangerous!" Axel didn't look like he really cared or was bothered by the replica's outburst.

"Come on, _Nami_, don't you want to go out and see something other than white walls?" The problem was that she did, and she wasn't sure she could keep telling him no with the way Axel kept dangling the offer before her. "They'll never know, just five minutes of freedom and fresh air in someplace new that even your wanna-be hero has been, _Nami._ You _know_ you want to…" Her resistance suddenly shattered, the crayon hit the sketchbook and she shoved her chair back as she stood abruptly. She tilted her head back to look her tormentor boldly in the eyes, feeling brave for the briefest moment.

"My _name_ is _Namine._ Is it really that hard to say?" She asked him sharply, patience at it's end. Axel could do nothing but grin at her.

"Good choice."

"But—" The replica protested, Axel rolled his eyes.

"You can come too, if you shut up." He told it as the dark corridor exploded into existence beside them. "Ladies first."

She was first aware of a sound similar to drumming above her as she passed through the corridor to whatever location Axel had had in mind. The house smelled musty, unused, and the air was warm and stagnant. To her disappointment, the room was as white-filled as her room in the Castle, but unlike her room, it had—

"A window!" She gasped, running around the table to get across the room to get to the clear glass that allowed one to see the world outside the walls and pressed herself against the glass. It was cold as ice, her breath fogged up the glass and made it nearly impossible to see through, as the little rivers formed by the raindrops sliding down the glass already made clearly seeing the world outside difficult. She didn't mind, though, because just seeing the smear of _color_ against the glass and knowing that at least somewhere there was such thing as "outside" existed was enough for her.

"Aw, it's raining, I was hoping to go out, but I guess not. You want me to open that for you?" She turned her head to see Axel and the replica on the other side of the table and nodded timidly.

"Please?" The single word came out ever so softly, as though she was afraid that taking up the offer would be asking too much. With a laugh, the redhead stepped around the table and up to the window, which it only took him a moment to get open. Her hands were out the window the instant her moved away. Icy little pinpricks stung her skin but the feeling was more nice than uncomfortable—she'd never felt rain before. With the window open she could see the still-blurry shapes of the trees standing huddled together on the grass, the ghostly shape of what appeared to be a wall around the house, as well as the cloud-covered sky and what appeared to be a few building tops, particularly what might have been the top of a clock tower in the in distance. The air was cool and fresh with the rain giving it a slight dampness that Namine had to admit she liked.

She wouldn't have minded staying there forever.

But then Axel spoke up. "Five minutes is up. Time to go." She backed away, let him close the window and dry off her arms with the bottom of his coat, wiping away all evidence of her field trip outside of the Castle as though it had never happened—like it had been a dream. She allowed herself to be led back to her windowless room in the Castle and went back to drawing, just like always.

Since then, Axel had brought her back once more and let her run through the woods that time. He told her the world was called Twilight Town, and that the mansion that the white room was in and that they had to come out of to get to the woods was abandoned. It was kind of sad, she thought, that such a big, pretty house had been abandoned and left in such a disarray. She would have liked to live there and fix it up. With those two trips, she had made her decision; she was going to break free as soon as she could. If she couldn't be perfect like the replica had told her, she would at least right her wrongs and fix him, repair the damage that she had done.

"You're all he's got left. If you don't stop this, no one will." He told her when they were alone. She frowned, was that really true? The whole thing had gone too far, was it really still possible to fix the damage she'd done?

"But...it's too late now." She countered weakly, the speed at which the questions were swirling around her head were going to make her sick if they kept up.

"Oh, I don't think you should give up just yet. By the way, Namine, I don't see Marluxia around. Do you?" Was he really telling her to…?

"What are you trying to say?" She asked, glancing up to meet those mischievous green eyes that almost always seemed to look sad. Axel was smirking like he knew the universe's biggest secret and was going to tease everyone he knew about it to the point of infuriation, yet never tell them what the secret actually was.

"There's no one here to stop you. Do it right." Her eyes went impossibly wide—so he was giving her the go-ahead? She would have never thought that she would hear the words. She stood so quickly that the chair hit the ground with a bang that almost sounded muted by the white walls, then turned and ran. This was it—her chance to fix what she had so willingly damaged before. She couldn't allow herself to mess up.

**Ending A/N: Whoot! And done! Hope everyone enjoyed it, and **_**please**_** comment if you did! Anyway, until next week!**


	4. To Pieces

**A/N: Oheylook! It's chapter 4! Anyway, thanks for the comment, Axelyssa, and the positive feedback phantom-people-that-I-know-IRL-who-shall-remain-nameless. *cough*John*coughcough*** _**Anyway**_**, I'm pretty excited about getting to the real story. Again, thanks goes out to Chibi for putting up with all my nonsense, as per normal-love you, sis! XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas and a good few OCs (one of which I'm thinking might actually drop in to say hi a few chapters from now...).**

**Chapter 4- To Pieces  
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She had to wait for him, and every moment of it was torment. She watched the other, fake memory her as she waited for him as well, waiting to trap him, seal his fate as Marluxia's pawn… No. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She _couldn't_ let that happen.

So she sat, invisible among the illusion of his homeworld created by his altered memories and waited for her should-have-been hero to appear so she could shatter her could-have-been perfect illusion and free herself from everything related to the lies. He made her remember how to feel guilty, she was tearing apart the true memories he really cherished so she could replace them with fake ones where she was the one he really cared about. In a way, she thought as she waited, that really made his emotions towards her just as fake as her own emotions in spite the fact he could truly feel rather than just halfway feel through memories (and, for her, another person's heart).

She wasn't sure what she would say, but the moment she saw him, heard him talk to the fake memory her, she knew exactly what to say. "No, it's okay. I promised I'd protect you. That's why I came." She heard him say, and she knew then that her time was up.

"Thank you. Oh, Sora, forgive me... I'm not supposed to be in this picture." She forced the fake her to say, and then she stood and stepped forward, shaking off the illusion that kept her invisible.

"She's right." She admitted with a painful, twisted-up little smile. He reacted with shock, calling her name in surprise, as if it were reflex. "That's not me. I'm not in your heart. I'm not in anyone's heart. I never have been." He backed away from her, closer to the fake her.

"What... What are you saying, Namine? What's gotten into you? We were inseparable! But then I lost you... I came here so I'd never lose you again!" He protested in denial, she flinched at the words. This was what she had wanted, him wanting her, thinking of her as somebody, coming to rescue her…and yet here she was, tearing everything about her perfect little dream to pieces. _We nobodies can never hope to become somebodies…_ That was what Axel had told her earlier, and yet she had tried not to believe him then; now she understood full well what he had meant.

"Was it really me you came for?" The question was painful beyond belief for her, because she knew the real answer, yet she also knew the answer he would present her with.

"Of course it was! I may have forgotten things in this castle, but not you! Look! You gave me this, didn't you?" He produced the morphed charm that his real light had given him, the charm whose shape and background inspiration came from that out-of-place memory about stargazing with two other boys older than him that made her laugh. She shook her head slowly, closing her eyes and picturing the memory as she summoned up more words, more of the painful, painful truth.

"You still have it! My good luck charm…" The fake, who had been quiet until then, spoke up, sounding cheerful.

"No, Sora! Don't believe me!" She sputtered, cursing her luck and that stupid copy of her.

"What am I supposed to do...?" He was so confused, she could see it, and she knew if she was ever going to break the spell she had over him, it had to be done now.

"Think, Sora. Think of the person who's most special to you. See that faint glimmer way in the back of your heart? That's a piece of your memory, Sora. Call out to it! No matter how far away the light gets, your heart's voice will always reach it." _Call out to her, turn away from me and go back to her, the one who casts the shadow that is me…_ She had told Larxene that no matter what, he would grow closer to the other one-her original—rather than her. Back then she had been told that should be her incentive not to screw up, but now she could see that that was impossible. She couldn't _not_ screw up because she wasn't _supposed_ to keep him. She was supposed to lead him astray and then show him the right way back, like a good little shadow. She wanted to cry in frustration, would her "life" ever be her own?

"But I already know who's most special to me. It's you, Na—" She watched as his eyes seemed to glaze over and he froze. _That's it; don't say it because it's not me. Remember that it's not me, remember that it's her and stop trying to lie to me and yourself._ She turned and stepped out of the illusion, disappearing from his sight and heading for the door to the hall. However, she couldn't get out the door before she heard him say "Who... Who was that? I can't remember her, but she feels so...familiar..." and then the door shut softly behind her and she heard no more. Her shot at perfection lay in pieces, and she had been the one to shatter it.

The replica had been right about one thing after all and she really wished it hadn't been.

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><p><strong>AN: So, yeah, this chapter was cut in half from it's original length when I realized it was about twice the length of the other chapters... Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, I really love to see feedback/comments/feedback from you readers! See you all again next week!**


	5. Death of a Dream

**A/N: Yeah, so I know it isn't Tuesday, but I'm in a really, really good mood at the moment and thought I'd celebrate finishing the first part of Perfectionism ahead of time by updating early! Haha, anyway here's to Chibi for reading through all my senseless writing and all you fans out there! You guys who commented/favorited are awesome, I love seeing what you guys have to say! ...Why yes, I'm a bit overexcited due to the fact it's 2:30 a.m. here. XD Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas. Otherwise Perfectionism would actually end up as it's own game/extra vid or something.****

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><p><strong>Chapter 5-The Death of a Dream<strong>

She thought about the replica for a moment, wondering why it had yet to come following after her as it usually did. It didn't seem to add up, usually it followed her around like a lost puppy when she left her chair, but she still hadn't seen the fake Riku Vexen had created. Her musings were cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps echoing loudly off the walls and when she turned, she was greeted with the sight of Sora approaching fast. "Namine! It's not you. The person most special to me-it's not you." He told her as he came to a stop just short of running into her. She would have found it funny had the subject of conversation been so upsetting.

"No. The girl you care about... the one who was always with you... It's not me. It's her." She hated to admit it out loud, because in your head, words were harmless, but once they were spoken they could become twisted into weapons used to do horrible things to the speaker and also because this truly meant the end of her dream.

"But...who is she? I just... I can't think of her name. If she's so special to me, why can't I remember?" Sora seemed more confused than anything and she couldn't really blame him, she was directly contradicting the illusion she had bound him so tightly in. She took a breath to steady herself before she spoke again.

"It's because I went into your memories and—" She began to explain when another cut in.

"Let _me_ explain this, plain and simple. Your memory is a train wreck. You're not the one who's meant to protect Namine-_I am_. But you and your messed up memories always get in the way!" She snapped around to see the Riku replica approach, glaring at Sora. So _that_ was where it was. Sora opened his mouth to argue, but she watched in complete horror as the replica didn't seem to feel like listening to explanations and lunged at Sora instead. Sora managed to summon his Keyblade in time to block, and from there she watched as it turned into a full-blown battle. Her mind whirled—she had to _do _something, otherwise Sora would get hurt by more of her lies…

"Stop! Riku, no!" She protested, but the replica kept advancing to where it had knocked its opponent to the floor. For once, it had completely ignored her.

"You're through, you fake!" She heard it say, and suddenly words flew from her lips like daggers without any time to think.

"I said, _stop_!" She watched as the replica, which had lifted its arm to strike, froze. Its eyes went perfectly blank a half-second later, and then it crashed to the floor. Sora scrambled to its side, calling the name of the replica's original frantically, but the replica did not rise. When it didn't respond at all, Namine's could-have-been hero looked up at her; fear and accusation clear in his eyes.

"What did you do? What did you do to Riku?" He demanded to know, which threw her mind into complete chaos again because she honestly had _no idea_ what she had done.

"She broke his heart. More like smashed it, really." She jumped at the sound of the familiar voice of Larxene, who had emerged from a dark corridor into the hallway they all stood in. She smashed it? How had she done that? All she had done was tell it to stop…

"Quit playing games!" She was jolted out of her own thoughts when Sora yelled at Larxene and realized that she had completely missed out on part of the conversation while she tried to figure out what had just happened to the replica.

"All right, have it your way. It'll kill you to hear this-but I can live with that. That thing lying there is a puppet Vexen made. Nothing more than a toy. It's laughable, really. It called you a fake, but IT was the fabrication all along." So it seemed that she would not get to explain the replica all along, not that that fact bothered her much. She was a lot more worried that Larxene would tell him what she had been trying to explain.

"A fake? A fake Riku?" Would he ever stop being surprised? Namine thought that by now things might have stopped surprising Sora, but apparently everything came as a complete shock ninety percent of the time, Axel hadn't been lying when he said Sora was prone to overreactions.

"Fake in every way. It was only finished recently. And without any past, how could it remember anything? Its memories with Namine were planted, not real. All this time it's been picking fights with you over bogus memories. Isn't that right Namine? Behind that cute little face you do some awful things." No! There went her trying to explain things as she saw them—the sad, sad truth rather than whatever Larxene's twisted version of it would be. Sora seemed a little more subdued by this comment, but he still seemed to believe in her—at least, to an extent. "You are so STUPID. Don't you get it? Messing with people's memories is about all she's good at. She steps into people's hearts and rearranges their memory. If she wants, she can even draw new memories of things that never happened. The girl you've been dying to protect...is a manipulative witch who shackles people's hearts with phony memories!" Namine wanted to protest, wanted to tell Sora that Larxene never told anyone anything but lies, but that would be another lie, and she refused to lie to him ever again after the mess they had already ended up in.

"Then my memory... Everything I remember...it's..." _Lies, fabrications of a young wisher's mind, daydreams formed from desperation. _She didn't dare say the words that flitted through her thoughts out loud.

"Lies, lies. All lies! An illusion Namine made. Binding you in the chains of your own memory was central to our trap. It makes me tingle to think how easily you were duped. This was our chance to make the Keyblade master our puppet! We nearly had you... But that jerk Axel used Namine to wreck everything! He betrayed us!" She almost smiled because it was true—he'd told her to go fix everything, and she had tried… It hadn't worked out so well, but she had tried with all of her nonexistent, half-felt heart, because at this point she had to admit that she felt something, be it a memory of what she had felt before or something else…

_If you don't stop this, no one will._ That was what Axel had told her and she knew he was right. She had to stop this before there was nothing left to stop.

She darted in between Sora and Larxene, stopping and turning on the ball of her foot and throwing her arms wide to face the wicked blonde. "Don't!"

"Excuse me? It's a little late to grow a conscience, witch. Last I checked, YOU'RE the one who got him into this mess." Larxene snarled back, her words every bit as sharp as her throwing knives.

"I know, but—" She tried to explain, but it was like trying to reason with a rock. A very angry rock that could hit back.

"I should tell you that I am in an EXTREMELY foul mood. Thanks to you, all our plans are toast!" The 'angry' blonde hissed before simply putting one hand against her forearm and shoving Namine to the side. She was a lot stronger than her appearance let on, or maybe Namine was just that weak, but the smaller Nobody was moved clear of the other two and found herself on her knees at the side of the Riku replica. She looked down at the blank-faced, doll-like thing and closed her eyes, waiting for the fight to end, if it ever _would_.

Both her dreams and the Riku replica lay shattered at her feet. How many more things would fall to pieces before the fight was over?

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this chapter! If you guys liked it or have any questions/comments, I really appreciate reviews (if you couldn't already tell by the A/N at the start of this chapter)! Anyway, seeya' Tuesday, guys!**


	6. Truth Will Set You Free

**A/N: Yay for Tuesday updates! Anyway, I'm incredibly happy everyone who has commented seems to be enjoying the fic, I'm seriously having a ton of fun writing this-particularly the back half of part 1 and later bits of part 2 and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as well. Once again, I'm going to thank Chibi-this time for getting this chapter beta'd _ahead_ of time rather than the day _after_ I asked for the beta to be done to support my crazy 2:30 a.m. update on Sunday...ever wonder why I update on Tuesdays? It's all her fault! Lol, she knows I'm just poking fun at her and I really appreciate her. Moving on, thanks also goes out to those who read/reviewed-you guys keep me updating here! Now I'm going to continue with your typical Tuesday update, hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas. Otherwise Perfectionism would actually end up as it's own game/extra vid or something.******

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><p><strong>Chapter 6-Truth Will Set You Free<strong>

"…It was all a lie. Sora never promised me anything. Me being on the islands-that was a lie, too. This is our first meeting. I was never Sora's friend..." Namine found herself slowly trying to explain her situation now that Larxene was gone and the replica wasn't trying to kill anyone for her sake. It was a lot easier than she had thought it would be; in fact, it almost felt relieving. Finally she was able to tell Sora about all the wrongs she had done to him and his friends and explain just _why_ she had done what she had.

"So you're the reason the rest of us lost our memories, too. Can we ever get them back?" The cricket, Jiminy, asked from Sora's shoulder. That, Namine thought, was the big question here, really. The equipment required to help her restore Sora and his friends' memories was on the thirteenth floor, where Marluxia was no doubt lying in wait.

"Not right away. If we go to the thirteenth floor I can fix everything. But Marluxia..." She stole a glance at the door that hid the stairs that led to the next floor almost fearfully, as if she thought mentioning the Nobody's name would bring him to them before she could finish explaining again.

"Is that the person who made you tamper with our memories?" Jiminy asked, bringing her attention back to the subject at hand. Namine bit her lip and glanced back to the door once more before she answered the question.

"He said he'd keep me locked away in this castle forever if I didn't obey. I've been alone for so long..." _I was lonely, I was trapped in a place where I could find everything I ever wanted except for a companion and an exit, and he told me I could not only have a friend, but I would be allowed to leave if I did what he told me. Then he told me that to have my companion, I had to be perfect. He told me that to do that, I had to go in and change your memories, make myself a place there and drown out _her_ influence at the same time because she was perfect and I was not. He said you would go back to her and leave me behind if I didn't, and I didn't want to be left behind by myself again. It was wrong and I knew it—_he_ was wrong and I knew it—but I didn't want to believe that I could never have a friend or find a way out of this white-walled maze… _She found that she couldn't tell him the entire truth, but it didn't matter; it all boiled down to the fact she was lonely and could not escape the walls that kept her so, it was enough of the truth, she thought, that it wasn't really lying.

"So you did as you were told because you were lonely..." Goofy spoke up and shattered her thoughts in such a way that she felt as though she was going to fall apart with them as memories of guilt and loneliness as well as a wish for something so badly it hurt made her eyes sting. _Crying. You are going to cry._ Her mind seemed to be the only helpful thing about her, as it seemed to know much more about herself than Namine did.

"I'm...I'm so sorry..." She sputtered, not sure why exactly an apology was coming out of her mouth when she should have answered Goofy's question. _I'm so useless! I can't even answer a simple question!_ She rubbed her still-stinging eyes with her arm in a manner that might have suggested that she was irritated, had she been able to actually feel irritated.

"Don't be. Please don't cry..." Sora reached for her, but she stiffened and backed away slightly, arm dropping back to hang limply at her side. A little, twisted-up smile that seemed almost mocking tugged at her lips.

"I know. I don't have the right." Sora's expression fell as well as soon as the words left her mouth, and Namine instantly regretted it, wishing she could take the words back. However, before she could apologize, Sora spoke up.

"That's not what I meant! Look...I'm really not happy about you screwing around with my memories. But you know, I can't really get mad at you, either. These memories that you gave me... In my head I know they're lies, but they still...feel right. Like my promise. I said I'd protect you... that I wouldn't make you cry... So if you cry now, I feel guilty. Like I let you down somehow. So please...don't cry. Don't apologize. Until I get my memory back, smile, laugh, be happy. It's easier on me that way." She cringed at the request, but found that she liked the idea. It meant that she could keep up the illusion of having a friend for a little longer—even if it would have to end soon.

"Sora..." How could she ever thank him for this kindness? Namine couldn't think of any other way to do that other than fix his memories and let him return to the path he had been on when Marluxia had lured him into the Castle so she could take apart his memories and alter them as she saw fit so she could please Marluxia and finally be set free. She could remove the memory of the entire experience from his mind and send him back on his journey as though nothing had ever happened so that he wouldn't remember her, what she did to him, the Riku replica, and the Organization itself. That was what she could do to repay him.

"Goofy, don't you think he's laying it on a bit thick?" She was jolted out of her thoughts once more as this time Donald spoke up jokingly.

"I don't know. Sora's always like this around girls, a-hyuck!" Goofy didn't even bother to lower his voice or lean in towards Donald like the conspirators in the Castle did when they were talking about something they didn't want her to hear. Sora spun around in a flash to face his joking friends, cheeks pinkening much to her amusement.

"Shut up, you two! I thought you lost your memories!" For once, she didn't feel bad about the joke made about the horrible situation she had put them in and even found herself smiling at the joke as Donald and Goofy laughed at Sora.

"Friends don't forget things like that!" Donald chided, still snickering a bit. The color in Sora's cheeks did not lessen at all as he glanced at the floor.

"Gimme a break..." He muttered, almost whining the words. That was it, she couldn't hold it back any more—Namine exploded into giggles at the scene before her, which caused Sora to look back at her and give her the warmest smile she'd ever seen. "There! That's it! That's the Namine I remember. I used to really like it when you smiled. I mean, in my fake memory. But what I'm feeling now isn't fake. It's real." She felt her own smile growing on her face at his words.

"You're sweet, Sora," she told him, the words just popped out of nowhere and left Namine wondering just where _that_ had come from.

"Well, we've still got work to do." Namine stifled another giggle as Sora seemed to shift into seriousness, but seemed to exaggerate his movements to make their "work" to do seem much more difficult than it most likely would be. After all, Sora was supposed to be the hero of the story—maybe not hers, but he was going to help her anyway, just like she was going to help him by putting his memories all back together just like they had been before.

"Yeah, let's go get our memories back!" Namine had the urge to jokingly add a 'Hey, that's supposed to be my job!' to their banter, but held back. She had no right to be in this picture, so she wasn't going to disturb it.

"Marluxia is up there, so you'd better stay here, Namine." Goofy warned her, and she almost wanted to ask them if she could go anyway. Almost, but she didn't. What were the chances of Marluxia finding her before Sora found him?

"Goofy's right. Could you look after Riku for me? We'll come get you after this is over." Sora backed up Goofy's advice. Namine smiled and nodded to the boy who might just be her hero after all.

"Okay. Be careful, Sora," she offered the simple farewell, not having much experience in the art of saying goodbye, and Namine silently hoped that maybe it wouldn't be the last goodbye she ever said.

Donald and Goofy were already walking away, towards the stairs ahead of Sora when the boy turned his head to look back at her. "I'll be fine... I promise!" He called out before stepping through the doors to the stairs before they banged shut and blocked him from her view.

"Guess it's just us again, huh, Riku?" Namine asked as she stepped over to the broken replica's side to sit down. The moment she was seated on the floor, a much larger hand seized her by her upper arm.

"_There_ you are, you traitorous little witch." Namine's entire body went ice cold as she looked up to meet blue eyes set in a flawless face that was framed by wild pink hair. Marluxia had found her before Sora got to him, and now she had no one to protect her. Telling the truth might have set her free, but now it seemed to have signed her death warrant as well, because he obviously wasn't taking her to have tea.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week, hope you guys enjoyed it! If you did, I would really love to hear from you, as comments/questions/stuff like that is really appreciated. Anyway, until next week!**


	7. Disillusionment

**A/N: So here is the chapter where my incredibly sarcastic and humorous side came out to say hello to everyone, and I'm not quite sure why, but looking back, I really wouldn't have it any other way. It was just too fun to write this way, which is why I even made a joke out of the title. Anyway, thanks again, Chibi for betaing and Axelyssa for reviewing-you two are amazing! Haha, anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas. And my sarcasm/jokes. Those are totally mine.******

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><p><strong>Chapter 7-Disillusionment<strong>

"What kind of game is this? You think cowering behind Namine will stop me? Think again. Your little mascot can keep you company in the void. Farewell, Marluxia." Namine cringed at Axel's words as she was brought to stand right in front of Marluxia, the pink-haired Nobody's hand resting on the top of her head. For a moment she wondered why she always seemed to be the unlucky one who ended up in all these situations rather than someone else or no one at all; was it really imperative that she be used as a last-ditch attempt as a shield? Everyone said Nobodies had no hearts, so why in the world did Marluxia seem to think that putting her between Axel and himself would stop Axel from trying to kill him? It wasn't like the Nobody would care whether she was there or not, would he?

_Would he?_

Namine remembered Axel saying that he had friends. He certainly liked to annoy everyone around him, calling her that annoying nickname and giving everyone else annoying nicknames as well, getting bored and causing trouble, he seemed to like smiling a lot, and he had acted as though he was irritated when the replica tried to pick fights with him about one thing or another while he was trying to annoy her. Was it possible that maybe he still had a bit of his heart left, or was he just good at acting? Had Marluxia found out about the trips outside? Did he think Axel was attached to her or something? What was the point of using her as a shield?

"Oh, I think not. Are you listening, Sora?" She glanced over Axel's shoulder to see the doors to the room drifting closed. Oh. _That_ was the point behind trying to use her as a shield. "Axel is willing to harm Namine just to get at me! Destroy him!" Before there was any time to think, to wonder or worry about Sora or Axel, Marluxia was dragging her backwards through a dark corridor and away from the possible fight. It seemed that she would have to wait to see the battle's results, of course, that was if she survived being alone in a room with Marluxia alone until Sora or Axel could come chasing after them.

When they were at the end of the dark corridor, Marluxia shoved her out, into the room. She fell on her hands and knees hard before she looked back to glare at her kidnapper. "Sora will stop you." Her voice was suddenly firm and full of anger, Marluxia laughed at her.

"I think not. That's why I have you, Namine. No matter how things go, you are the answer to all of my problems concerning Sora. You are the solution to every twist and turn this story might take." She frowned at the comment before a small smile formed on her lips.

"What if Axel shows up instead? What do you plan to do _then_? Or, better yet, what if they decide that getting rid of you is more important than trying to get rid of each other and show up together?" Marluxia took a step towards her as though he was going to try and hurt her, but that was when the doors to the room's entrance exploded open and Sora, with Donald and Goofy in tow appeared.

"So you've destroyed Axel. You have my thanks, Sora. Or perhaps I should thank the power of the Keyblade. How I long to make it my own and have the Organization at my mercy!" The line was spouted almost calmly, giving no trace of the conversation (Or had it been an argument?) that had gone on moments before. Namine felt a twinge of sadness at the suggestion that Sora had destroyed Axel, and she remembered the time he had annoyed her until she had agreed to take a break to go outside of Castle Oblivion with him for the first time. He had been the only one who had been remotely nice to her before the replica, and it had only been nice to her because she had altered its memories. Sure, he'd been one of the ones who were trying to control her, but he hadn't treated her like trash…

"Get real, Marluxia. Let Namine go!" Sora seemed unimpressed by the speech, basically ignoring the praise Marluxia had given him and the fact he had basically spilled his entire plan to run over him and request that Marluxia let her go. She had to try hard to not laugh.

"You cannot win as long as she is in my hands. Namine... Erase Sora's memory!" Namine felt her mouth pop open in surprise and horror. Had Marluxia lost his _mind_? Did he know just what he was asking her to do? Namine was going to make sure, even if she had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was asking for.

"But...if I do that..."

"Yes. If you uproot the memories you planted...then Sora's heart will collapse and all his memories will be torn asunder." Marluxia's response sounded almost bored, as though to say 'Well _duh_, stop trying to point out the things I already know.' Sora's friends one the other hand..

"Sora's heart..." Goofy started, sounding shocked.

"Collapse?" Donald squawked, finishing where Goofy had left off. Namine felt like yelling at them that that was just what Marluxia had said—at least she was asking for confirmation rather than repeating what had already been said.

"I'd prefer the Keyblade master unmarred...but even a riven heart can be rebuilt with time. Sora will yet be my slave. Do it, Namine! Obliterate his memory!" Again with the bored tone, up until he got to trying to order her around, anyway. However, this time Namine decided that she wouldn't let herself be ordered around again. Not anymore.

"No. Sora forgave me even though I deceived him. I could never break his heart! I don't care what you do to me. I won't hurt Sora!" She shouted in defiance, knowing she was welcoming disaster with open arms, most likely even her own demise, but Namine was fed up with hurting the boy who had been so kind to her, even when she had told him the truth about what she had done to him.

"Then you'll pay the price —" Marluxia's reaction was just as she expected, however, Sora's was not what she expected at all.

"Do what he says, Namine! I don't care! Erase my memory!" Namine felt her mouth pop open again; at the same time she had the very strong urge to ask Sora if he'd lost his mind along with Marluxia. He was just _begging_ to give the bad guy what he wanted!

"Sora, what are you saying?" Goofy didn't put it exactly the way she would have, had Namine been able to ask the question her way, but it was good enough.

"Who am I going to look after if I don't have you? Do it, Namine! Erase my memories, break my heart... I'll still have my promise. I'll still protect you!" Now he was really pushing it and frustrating her as he did.

"Sora..." _How about you look after yourself for once? You never really promised me anything, so why do you keep trying to protect me like that?_ Namine wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She suddenly found herself unable to say anything beyond his name; her mouth wouldn't work.

"I don't need my memory to take on Marluxia." _Do you even understand the words that are coming out of your mouth? You obviously don't, because you kind of need to remember what you're fighting for to fight someone, and that aside, did you totally miss part where Marluxia said that you heart would _collapse_? That would mean it would cease to work, you would cease to be you, nothing more than a life-sized doll with a brain that does nothing more than tell you to breathe and keep your physical heart beating…_ Namine found that, once again, her mouth would not work well enough for her to say what she wanted to. Sure, it would have hurt his feelings, but Sora did not seem to understand just how important having a heart was—look at the situation the Organization was in without them! They were a bunch of greedy, backstabbing people desperate to get back what they had lost to obvious screw-ups they had committed during their lives, and here he was willing to let her break his heart to keep a nothing like her safe. Oh no, that was _not_ going to fly.

"Yeah! Even if Sora forgets, we won't!" Donald chimed in, and Namine wanted to facepalm.

"All we gotta do is remember for him!" Goofy added on, scratch that, she wanted to bang her head against the wall. Apparently absolutely _no one_ understood what the collapse of a heart would result in.

"With everyone else's memories, I can piece my own together again in no time!" Namine gave up right then and there. Clearly she was surrounded by very heroic idiots who did not know how to put two and two together. It was cute in a way, but it was also almost as annoying as Axel calling her Nami rather than Namine.

"Ignorant fool! If Namine destroys your memory, you'll be naught but a lifeless shell. Your heart will be unable to feel, to care! Just like that pathetic imitation of Riku." The insult to the Riku replica stung and Namine cringed at the mention of it, but she was thankful her mouth still didn't feel like working correctly because otherwise she would have yelled out 'Thank you!' to Marluxia for finally explaining what would happen if she erased all his memories.

"Guess again." Namine gasped as suddenly the replica came flying out of nowhere to attack Marluxia, who was saved only by the grace of fast reflexes while she was forced to dive out of the way. However he had been knocked off balance enough that he took a few steps back.

"It cannot be!" Marluxia gasped about the same time Sora shouted "Riku!" and reminded Namine that she wanted to bang her head against the wall, considering she was pretty sure they had cleared up the issue of that not being the real Riku not all that long ago.

"No, not Riku. Just someone's pet project." The replica responded, opting to answer Sora rather than Marluxia.

"But...you're an empty shell! You've been stripped of all you had!" Marluxia continued in faked disbelief, the replica turned his attention to Marluxia with a bitter, mocking smile on its lips.

"What did I ever have? My body and heart are fake. But there's one thing you can't take from me anyway... even if it is a lie! I will protect Namine. Phantom promise or not, it's MY promise!" The guilt welled up again, it seemed now that the truth had come out, the replica had become self-loathing. It was a problem she was fairly sure that she couldn't fix, even if she tried.

"Know your place! You would chain your heart with false memories? Cast your heart's freedom aside? You turn from the truth because your heart is weak. You cannot defeat me!" Marluxia shouted as he raised his scythe and caused phantom rose petals to appear out of nowhere and float around him as though he stood at the center of a miniature tornado. That was when Sora and the Riku replica charged with Donald and Goofy not too far behind and Namine scrambled to the corner of the room furthest from the fight to take cover behind one of the marble statues so common around Castle Oblivion. She just hoped that Marluxia wouldn't notice her and try to use her as a shield again—she really didn't feel like becoming collateral damage.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that's it for this chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and if so, please review. Reviews make my day, guys. Anyway, seeya next week!**


	8. Resolution

**A/N: And so here we are, approaching the end of Namine's time in the CoM timeline, and it is certainly going to be interesting...well, IMO. Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for waking up long enough to beta and continually point out my comma errors(I swear I'm better at it now!) and Axelyssa for the comment; wish you readers would leave more of these, but anyway hope you guys enjoy this one!**

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Neither is ******dragonblade3325's CoM script. However, both are equally amazing. The only thing here that's mine is the story idea, and hopefully it will stay mine.********

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><p><strong>Chapter 8-Resolution<strong>

"We...we got him?" Donald's halfway disbelieving comment drew Namine out of her surprisingly unharmed hiding place. It seemed that Sora and his friends had won against Marluxia after what had sounded like a brutal fight, if the yelling and clanging she'd heard had been any indication.

"You could say that. But what you destroyed was just an image of me. No more than a petty imitation." Or maybe not. She let out a sudden 'eep!' of surprise as Marluxia's voice echoed off the walls of the room moments before he emerged unharmed from a dark corridor.

"So what!" The replica shouted, darting forward to slash at Marluxia, who made no move to evade. Why was clear as he exploded into flower petals the moment the Riku replica slashed through him. It was yet another clone. "Grrr... Another trick."

"The real Marluxia's in there?" Namine looked over to where Sora stood gesturing to the door opposite the one they'd used to come in with his Keyblade.

"Yes," Namine admitted, though the thought of what lay on the other side of the door gave her the shivers. The aura of power emanating from the door was ridiculous, nothing she'd ever imagined Marluxia giving off, of course, she might also have been a bit biased. She'd listened to Axel call him Mr. Flower Petals all too often and the name certainly suggested he was a bit more kind and gentle that he was in all actuality.

"Whatever's on the other side is powerful... I can feel it." So it wasn't just her, Sora felt it too. Namine doubted it would have any real effect on him, though, seeing as Sora seemed to have no sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

"Well then, we'd better hurry up and stop it!" Goofy piped up. Namine had begun to wonder if maybe Sora had made the best choice in traveling companions after all, she couldn't believe they were actually encouraging this insanity. Yes, Marluxia needed to be stopped, but seriously, would it have killed them to take a little bit of caution?

"Let's do this!" Donald followed up Goofy's statement, only causing Namine to wonder even more as the trio moved towards the door. The replica took a step to follow them, but Sora turned to look back at them then.

"Riku... Keep Namine safe." Sora said, giving them a warm smile that was filled to the brim with confidence and assurance. Yup, he had no sense of self-preservation nor did he have a doubt in his mind that he would lose. Was that what heroes were really supposed to be like?

"Me?" The Riku replica seemed stunned by the instructions. Sora's smile only grew in size as he spoke again.

"You don't want to?" The boy who would have been his original's best friend teased. The replica tensed, suddenly becoming straight-backed and looking incredibly serious.

"All right," it replied slowly, almost as though it was trying to make it sound like it was inconvenienced by having to guard her when they all knew otherwise. Namine had to smother a giggle as Sora and his friends stepped through the door. "Hey, what's so funny?" It asked the moment they were gone.

"You were trying too hard to sound cool, you know? It came out sounding like you thought guard duty was a burden when all you've ever talked about is protecting me." She couldn't help it; more giggles came as she spoke. The replica looked away, ducking its head slightly as though it were embarrassed.

"Really?" The single-word question came out sounding completely mortified.

"Yep," she punctuated her answer with a nod, and the clone shook its head.

"Aw man, I must have sounded ridiculous!" The giggles morphed into full-blown laughter.

"You did," Namine managed to gasp out between bouts of laughter.

"Aw, come on, Namine! Stop laughing at me like that, I already feel like a dunce, my best friend laughing at me like that doesn't help!" The replica complained, giving her a gentle shove on the arm that sent Namine sidestepping to recover her balance and recovering from her amusement.

"Hey…are you really okay?" She asked suddenly, this caused the Riku replica to tense up again.

"Yeah, I guess so." It looked down to floor and away from her. Namine sighed and reached out to it, but the Riku replica flinched away from her.

"There's no guessing so-you're either okay or you aren't," she countered in a sudden flash of boldness.

"Then I guess I'm not. Nothing about me is real, not even my memories of you…"

"You know, you told me when we first met, before I gave you those memories, that everyone had flaws and that is was impossible to be perfect. That's just your set of flaws, no one can be perfect. Not even me when that was what I wanted most of all." Namine told the replica quietly, before smiling. "Besides, don't you remember the first time Axel took me to the mansion and you went with us? That was real; I remember feeling the rain from outside falling on my arms, and you were there, so I _know_ it was real. That means not all of your memories are fake." She smiled at the memory, the way Axel had annoyed her to get her to go out and the way the replica had annoyed him in turn, prompting Axel to tell him 'You can come too, if you shut up.' while he rolled his eyes.

"I… Yeah, I remember going to the mansion. I never could stand him, Axel, I mean. He seemed to love annoying you, that nickname of his always managed to set you off." The replica chuckled, looking at her once more and smiling a little.

"He was better than the others. The only one aside from you that was nice to me… He's gone now," Namine sighed glancing back to the door Sora had entered the room from.

"Oh? I would have liked to fight him myself, but leave it to Sora to steal the show. He always did, didn't he?" Namine nodded quietly.

"Look, you don't have to hate yourself for not being real. I'm not real either, at least, not in the way that I should be. There's another girl he likes—I used my powers to replace her with myself, but I'm not her. I'm just her shadow… We're really not all that different from each other. You're a replica of Riku and I'm just a shadow of Kairi." The replica jumped as though he'd been shocked.

"No, you aren't anything like me. You could _make_ yourself real whereas I-"

"No, no matter what I did, I could never really make myself real. I'm a Nobody, I can't really feel… That's what they all said. You, Riku, you're different. Your heart may be artificial, but you still have a heart to feel with… If either of us could make ourselves real, it'd be you," Namine cut the replica off with the twisted up little smile.

"Namine, I—" This time the Riku replica was interrupted as Sora, with Donald and Goofy on his heels burst back through the door. Donald and Goofy set to shoving the doors back closed before allowing Sora to seal the door closed with his Keyblade.

"Are you okay, Riku?" The question was out the moment Sora had finished sealing the door shut. Suddenly everything Namine had dragged up during the conversation was promptly shoved down; she could see it on the replica's face. All the progress she might have made was lost the moment Sora spoke up.

"I'm not Riku. I'm fake. I can't remember when I was created, or why... All I've got left is you and Namine. But those memories aren't real..." The acidic, self-loathing tone returned. If Namine had thought it would have helped any, she would have offered up both the information on when and why he had been created.

"Namine, can you put Riku's memory back to normal?" Goofy asked, and she found herself shaking her head even before he could get the whole question out. _I can't fix what was never there…_

"It...It doesn't work that way." Namine said, taking a sudden interest in her sandals as she spoke. _I'm so sorry…_

"It's all right. Don't worry about me," the replica said quickly, turning as it spoke. It was halfway to the door when it finished speaking; its hand was on the handle of the door by the time anyone reacted.

"Wait!" Sora shouted and ran to the replica of his best friend while Namine still hadn't looked up from her sandals. "Who cares if someone made you? You have your own heart. Those feelings and memories are yours and yours alone. They're special!" She could feel a sad smile creeping onto her face because she knew that no matter what Sora said, the replica wasn't going to stay. She had already tried that—it was a lost cause.

"Sora, you're a good person. I don't have to be real to see how real your feelings are. That's good enough for me," the Riku replica replied, sounding as though it envied its original's friend who was so determined to call it by the same name.

"_I wish it didn't have to be this way,_" she whispered so softly the words were barely there as the door banged shut, announcing the replica's departure.

"Riku! Riku..." Sora called after the replica, but he didn't follow him out the door.

"Can you fix our memories?" Donald's sudden question brought Namine out of her own thoughts and sadness. She plastered on a fake smile as she raised her head to look at the duck and nodded.

"Yes. Just because you can't remember something doesn't mean it's gone." She told them confidently.

"What do you mean?" Goofy followed up, she bit back a sigh and launched into her explanation.

"Remembering one thing leads to remembering another, and then another... Your memories are connected, like links in a chain. Those same chains are what anchor us all together. I don't destroy memories. I just take apart the links and rearrange them. You still have all your memories." Namine hoped that it was an easy enough explanation for them to understand, because that was how far she'd had to dumb it down to explain it to the members of the Organization before anyone other than Xemnas and Saix understood it. She'd almost yelled at Xigbar to try explaining how his teleportation ability worked to others and see how easy it was or kindly shut up while Axel had looked like he could hear the exasperation in her voice and expected her to do just that.

"So you can put them back together?" Jiminy asked, suddenly seeming intrigued. Okay, that question was acceptable.

"Yes, but first I have to undo the links I made. Then I have to gather up the memories scattered in your hearts and reconnect them. It will take time. But I think it will work. No, I'll _make_ it work. It's my turn to help you out." She was slowly losing her grasp on the forced smile because, in spite of the sadness she felt at the fact that she could not save the Riku replica, it was beginning to dawn on her that she was _free_. Free from Marluxia and the other influence; free to do whatever she wished—free to save Sora just like she had wanted ever since she had decided since the first time Axel took her to the mansion in Twilight Town.

"All right. We're in your hands." Namine fought the urge to tell him that they had been in her hands from the moment that they had entered Castle Oblivion, and the warm smile Sora gave her prevented it from slipping out.

"Hey... Wait just a second! You said you'd have to undo the links you made. But that means—" _Exactly. You will remember nothing about your time here. Like it never happened. _She closed her eyes as a sudden calm settled over her. This was what she wanted to do; what she was _meant_ to do.

"Yes, Jiminy. You won't be able to recall what happened in this castle," she responded as she opened her eyes. To say that Sora's face fell would have been an understatement—it crashed and _burned._

"Not even you?" Why did he sound so sad? Namine couldn't figure it out, why would he be so sad to forget an unimpressive nobody of a girl who manipulated his memory in order to try and fill a void in her nonexistent heart?

"I'm sorry. It's the only way. You have to choose, Sora. You can lose your memories of this castle and reclaim your old memories...or keep your memories here and give up the memories that you've lost."

"I have to choose?" Sora's reaction was instantaneous, the moment the words left her mouth, he was speaking, questioning her like a child might in an either/or situation.

"Yes," she sighed, the calm fading fast and leaving her with the feeling that she was hurting herself even though it was clearly Sora who was upset here.

"Put me back the way I was." It was then that she had to fight to keep her own expression from falling the way Sora's had, bringing another stinging question to mind—why had she bothered to hope that maybe he wouldn't want to forget?

"Okay, I understand! Who needs false memories, right?" A soft, mocking laugh escaped her throat. "Especially when you have real memories of people who are really important to you. Anyone would say the same." She was ready to cry as she looked at Sora, who stood there looking back at her with the most torn expression as she finished speaking. Realizing her mistake, Namine quietly gestured to yet another door. "Come on, follow me. There's someplace we need to go," she said quietly before moving towards the door without looking back to see if Sora and the others were following her.

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><p><strong>AN: So, that's it for this week-see you all next week for the conclusion of the CoM section of Perfectionism! Also, I love reviews/comments/questions/etc. They make my day.  
><strong>


	9. Goodbyes

**A/N: Okay, yes, short(er) chapter, I know. However, chapter also marks the endpoint for part 1 of the fic. Well, what I deem to be part 1, anyway... There's still quite a bit to go, but hey, they way I see it, I'm 1/3 of the way done! As per usual, thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing and all that goodness, as well as Axelyssa for commenting and filling my brain with more ideas!_ Now,_ time to get on with the fanfic, I should think.**

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Neither is ******dragonblade3325's CoM script. However, both are equally amazing. The only thing here that's mine is the story idea, and hopefully it will stay mine.**********

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><p><strong>Chapter 9-Goodbyes<strong>

"We have to sleep in these to get our memories back?" Donald asked, looking up at the flower-shaped pods in awe.

"You'll be fine. It might take a little time, but I'll take care of you." The faked smile had made its return to her face, but she made the promise knowing full well that she wouldn't mind taking care of Sora and his friends in the slightest. It would be nice to be around people who didn't yell at her, almost like having dolls like those of the girl in the memories she denied having. Like the dolls Kairi had when she was young.

"But when we wake up, we won't remember you anymore..." Goofy mumbled, sounding just as sad as Sora had.

"How are we going to thank you later?" Donald wondered aloud, and the trio looked around at each other as though it was a very serious matter. Namine had been ready to tell them that there was no reason to thank her for fixing the mess that she had caused in the first place when the cricket on Sora's shoulder spoke up.

"No problem, Donald! I'll make a note in my journal: 'Thank Namine.'" Somehow, she found she couldn't object to it, but then again, she also doubted that they would understand the meaning of the message when they woke again.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that!" Once again, Namine found her forced smile becoming a real one. She wouldn't spoil their hope, not now.

"Good night, Namine." Goofy spoke up as he and Donald walked away from her, towards the flower-shaped pods, and climbed inside.

"Good night," she called back before looking back to Sora who still stood before her. "You too, Sora," she told him almost teasingly.

"Okay," Sora sighed, sounding a bit like a reluctant child who didn't want to go to bed.

"It may have started with a lie, but I'm really glad I met you, Sora." The words flew out of her mouth against her better judgment, but the real smile remained on her face.

"Yeah, me too. When I found you... Even when I remembered your name, I was so, so happy. The way I felt was no lie." The smile Sora gave her was blazing, and she felt the sharp sting of sadness.

"Goodbye," she muttered softly, glancing away. Sora darted forward and took her shoulders in his hands before she had time to react.

"No, not goodbye! I'll find you again after I wake up. And we'll be friends for real. Promise me, Namine." She glanced away from them before meeting his eyes straight on, smile twisting with sadness again.

"You'll only forget." She told him steadily, and Sora shook his head.

"I won't. Even if you take apart the chain of memories in my heart, the links will stay there. This memory will always be inside me somewhere." So he was smarter than he let on; he'd been paying attention to what she'd said about how her powers worked. That was when he let go of her shoulders and extended a single fist, pinkie finger extended expectantly.

"I guess you're right. Let's promise, then." She raised her own hand in a similar fashion.

"I'll see you again, Namine." Sora promised her. Kairi had made pinkie promises before, she knew what to do, and smiled as she hooked her pinkie finger around Sora's and shook. When they were finished, Sora turned and hopped into the pod with ease.

"Sora... The loose links will sink into the darkness in your heart. You won't be able to just reach in and pick the one you want. But there's another promise you made — a promise to someone you could never replace. She's your light. The light within the darkness. If you can remember her...all the memories lost in the shadows of your heart will come into the light." She advised, hoping that maybe she could just push him a little in the right direction.

"Another promise..." Sora's voice sounded distant, Namine could tell he was thinking.

"Look at the good luck charm. I changed its shape when I changed your memory. But when you thought of her, it went back to the way it was. You're remembering..." She gave him another push with a smile, and watched as his eyes seemed to focus beyond her.

"Kairi! All my friends... Namine?" Sora gasped, leaning forward slightly as the pod doors began to drift upward. _That_ was it!

"Don't worry. You'll forget me...but we have our promise, so I can come back to you," she said, her smile widening as she lifted her fist, her pinkie finger extended.

"A promise is a promise," Sora admitted, grinning at her.

"One day it'll be our light, the light that brings us together. I'll be in your heart until that time comes," she told him as the doors came close to closing completely.

"I know. Forgotten, but not lost." Sora said just as the doors closed, leaving Sora within the pod to fall asleep for who knew how long and leaving Namine to think over his last words. Finally the tears that she had held back for so long slid down her cheeks. Slowly, she turned and rested her back against the pod doors and closed her eyes.

_Forgotten, but not lost…_ Her lips quirked up at the corners. Maybe things weren't so bad after all…

She was free of the Organization.

She was with him.

She was _not_ perfect; she never would be.

And he would forget her and leave, promise or not.

The thing was, she _didn't mind_.

[Perfectionism: Part 1 **-END-**]

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><p><strong>AN: And that's all for this week, guys! If you liked it, please review! Seeya' next week!**


	10. I'd Say Nice to Meet You

**A/N- Sooooo, here we are, yet another week, as well as another part. Now I know I said it was the end of the CoM section last chapter, but I will admit I fibbed a bit. I ended part one with the end of Sora's CoM story, this chapter and the next take place in what would be Riku's CoM timeline, which could also consider the Days timeline...eh, this is getting really wordy and complicated. Just sit back and enjoy. XD Thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing and Axelyssa, as well as Mystical for commenting!**

****Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts is not mine.****** The only thing here that's mine is the story idea, and hopefully it will stay mine. Oh, and my sarcasm-that's mine, too.************

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><p><strong>Chapter 10-I'd Say Nice to Meet You…<strong>

When the man clad in red entered, she didn't notice until he spoke. The members in the lower levels of the Castle didn't come up often, so she hadn't been expecting anyone, and she was completely absorbed in drawing. "Her" room had morphed since the Organization members using her had been eliminated. Now it was all white, but nowhere near as ornate or empty. She had a vase of colorful flowers on her table and tacked her art to the wall, but the most drastic change had to be the window. The sound of drumming above her head was almost deafening, but she liked it that way, and if you looked outside the "window" which didn't open, you would see a misty green blur in the distance past the water cascading down the glass.

Sometimes it would shift to the forest or other places if she left and came back, but mostly it stayed in the form of the room Axel had taken her to that one time. She liked it there, she found it calming, and that made it easier for her to concentrate and draw for what felt like hours at a time.

So when he asked "What are you doing?" out of the blue, Namine about had a panic attack. She gasped, jumping violently and leaving a long, blue streak of crayon across the paper, and consequently Sora's face. When she looked up, Namine found herself looking up at possibly the most imposing man she had ever seen, even beating Lexaeus in that aspect. He was tall and had a wide chest, it gave her the impression that he was well-muscled in spite of the fact he was entirely covered in clothing—right down to the point that all but one of his eyes and his mouth were hidden. His eyes burned with a fire that seemed to give his scarlet irises a backglow in the dimness of the room. They scared her slightly, to be honest.

"Drawing…" She replied quietly. Who _was_ he? She didn't recognize him, had he been with the Organization? What was he going to do? Wait—how had he gotten there?

"But it's more than that, isn't it? You're not just drawing for fun, are you?" She blinked in shock, how did he know?

"No… It's not just for fun, " She admitted slowly, looking down at the now ruined picture. _It's to correct a very, very big mistake I made…_

"Your drawings are how you manifest your power over memories, am I correct?" Namine just barely stopped herself from gaping—how had he figured out so quickly what had taken the Organization weeks? It didn't make any sense!

"…Yes. How did you _know_?" She finally asked him, the large man chuckled at her.

"Because I have been watching this whole ordeal; I know about you, the plans they were all following, Sora, the Riku replica, everything. They don't know it, but I have been watching the Organization for some time now, I believe that it would be beneficial for us to work together." His answer astounded her—he knew _everything_? The Organization didn't _know_? How much more did he know than her? Namine's mind whirled with question after question that she knew she would never ask.

"I even know that the one called Axel is still alive, working against the members downstairs, where the real Riku arrived some time ago with a little bit of my help." Namine flinched back visibly at the news, as if she had been struck by a whip. Axel was still alive? Would Sora be okay? Would he come back for her? And just how had this man who shouldn't have been in the Castle without the Organization's knowing brought another there as well, let alone _Riku_ of all people?

"How…? Axel… Riku… You've been watching…?" She felt dizzy as the room with its paper and crayon-covered walls spun wildly around her in spite the fact she knew they weren't moving at all.

"Never mind you how; I have my ways and we shall leave it at that. More importantly, we share a goal—we both want Sora fixed and I can help you with that, though in return I would like you to offer the use of your powers to Riku as well. He has a choice of his own to make. Now, I will repeat: I believe it would be beneficial for us to work together. Do you believe so as well?" He spoke rather quickly and with a thick accent that Namine couldn't place (a fact that didn't really surprise her) but understood and found herself nodding. A part of her mind sang out to the voice, it seemed familiar and yet she could not place a name to the voice, or even a specific memory.

"I…believe so. If you could get him to me, I can offer the use of my powers to Riku," she told him softly.

When he smiled, it made Namine think of a hungry wolf smiling at its prey before it ate the prey and gave her the impression that she had just narrowly escaped an exceedingly unpleasant fate. "You may call me DiZ," the man informed her tonelessly.

"My name is—"

"Namine, I know." DiZ cut her off quickly, denying her the chance to properly introduce herself.

"I would say 'Nice to meet you,' but I'm not thinking this is really very nice." Namine replied, and he gave her the wolf-smile again.

"I believe that your thinking might just be correct," he admitted darkly and caused Namine to shiver as she wondered just what she had gotten herself into now.

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><p><strong>AN: That's all for now, folks! Hope you guys enjoyed this week's update, and are ready for next Tuesday's update. If you enjoyed reading, I would love to see reviews/comments from you!**


	11. Hellos

**A/N: Hello there, readers, it's Tuesday, again, which means it's time for another chapter! Lol, this one took me forever to get done, and I almost didn't get it finished on time! XD Anyway, this is the real conclusion of the CoM storyline here, but don't worry, I hope you won't miss it too much. I have lots of ideas to fuel the story for awhile. Now, on with the thanks to Chibi for betaing and the disclaimer...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas here. KH belongs to whoever it belongs to, and again thanks to ******dragonblade3325's game script****** for accurate text!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11-Hellos<strong>

She paused as the door to her room opened, the tip of her ocean blue crayon hung suspended just fractions of a centimeter above the paper. She had a habit of stopping everything when DiZ entered the room, though she still wasn't sure whether it was out of fear or respect. It was just something she'd done almost automatically ever since their first meeting, just like she seemed to know when the man was near; especially when he opened the door to her room, where the pounding of the rain would have otherwise kept her oblivious to his presence. "What is it, DiZ?" She took the initiative to speak first when the man did not say anything for a few moments.

"Riku will be coming to meet you soon. I want you to be waiting for him with Sora and the others. There you will offer the use of your powers to him, do you understand, Namine?" Namine nodded silently, biting her tongue to keep from telling him that she wasn't stupid and she could carry out the simple orders without him confirming that she understood every time he told her to do something. "Good, although I do believe that you have already taken some of your very precious time to speak with him before." DiZ's voice was icy, and Namine shivered.

"It was necessary, there would be no Riku for me to talk to, had I not intervened." She countered softly, using that calculating tone that DiZ used so often. Maybe, she thought, just maybe for once he wouldn't think she had done something stupid.

"He should have been able to figure it out by himself," DiZ snapped, his voice like a whip.

"How long was I supposed to wait for him to figure it out? Until he lost his heart completely? Not everyone is as strong as you on their own, DiZ," she snapped back, finally losing her patience. With that, she stormed out of the room, past the larger man, to go to the room where Sora was being held. "Besides, I couldn't just watch it happen, some part of me cried out against it," she murmured softly, not caring whether or not DiZ heard.

She could navigate Castle Oblivion easily enough; it seemed to enjoy bending to her will to find her the fastest way to get where she wanted to be. She had noticed in her time there that this did not hold true for the Organization members when they tried to go anywhere in the Castle on foot. When they had first shown up, they had tried to explore and look through every room, only to find that they ended up in the room they had started from via a doorway that had not been there before, or ran in the same series of rooms to the point they were running enormous circles without realizing it, sometimes the Castle seemed to just turn itself into one huge maze. They only tried getting places on foot for about two days before they took up using the corridors of darkness to get anywhere they wanted to get. Her? About the only thing she'd ever not been able to find was the exit to the place and the room that held the boy from those brief flashes of memory that wasn't hers. It seemed to be something that she could do that no one else could, though it had never helped her try to run away. It was because of this that she found her way to the room with Sora's pod with ease.

She greeted the pod with a smile and walked over to it. "Hey, Sora," she said quietly as she pressed a hand to the front panel, "It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy working really hard trying to put your memories back together. DiZ says that you're going to get a visit from Riku today, and that I have to offer to put him to sleep and seal away the darkness in him. I want to do it about as much as I wanted to replace your memories of her with those of me, but hopefully he will see that he can conquer the darkness if he tries. I helped him earlier, so maybe that will help him see that it's possible to work with the darkness instead of just against it. I wish you could tell me how to tell him without telling him one choice is better than the other so DiZ won't take my head off for not giving him options." Namine laughed softly, though it was more of a nervous laugh than anything. That was when the door to the room opened a tall, well-built young man entered the room. She was about to greet him when Riku spoke.

"You're Namine?" he asked slowly, as though he was uncertain of something. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Yes," she admitted simply without bothering to ask if he was Riku or greet him after all.

"So...that was you." The remark was murmured to himself, but Namine caught it, though she had no idea what it was supposed to mean.

"Huh?" she asked, though Riku shook his head in response.

"Nothing, never mind," he replied quickly, and Namine let the subject drop. She had more supposedly important things to deal with right now anyway. She raised her hand and gestured for Riku to come closer to both herself and the pod.

"Please...come this way," she requested, and he complied, stepping forward close enough to see Sora's face in the frosted glass of the pod's petal-like doors.

"Hey! It's Sora! What did you do to him?" She cringed and took a step backwards, away from Riku and his suddenly angry tone. Then she stopped herself and returned to her former position, chiding herself mentally. _You knew he would react this way, it's normal, isn't it? Sora wanted to know what you did when you broke the replica, too. You're not supposed to have a heart, stupid, so stop acting scared when you know you can't really be!_ her mind hissed.

"Nothing, he's just sleeping. He has to, to get his memory back," Namine finally admitted quietly. Riku stared at her in silence for a moment before he spoke again.

"Tell me what happed," he said finally, and Namine smiled. She finally had the chance to explain to someone everything that she had done wrong. After a moment, she sighed, and began to tell him everything.

"I see... Sora chose to forget about this castle and get back his old memories," Riku finally said once she had finished her explanation.

"You have a decision to make, too," she told him cringing inwardly as she managed to remind herself as well. She really didn't like just giving him the options, but after everything he had seen from Sora's memories and from what she had seen herself, Riku seemed like a smart guy. Hopefully that meant he would ask the right questions rather than jump blindly ahead like Sora would have.

"Why? No one's been messing with my memories." Namine could have done a touchdown dance at the question, it was one of the biggest of all.

"It's not about your memories," she sighed. "It's about your darkness. In your heart is darkness, and in that darkness is Ansem. Right now, he's at bay...but eventually he'll awaken, and he'll conquer you when he does. Before that happens, let me lock your heart tight. I can make it so Ansem never escapes." She hated making the offer, and yet she knew she had to. Riku looked a bit worried by the offer.

"And what happens to me if I let you do that? Will I forget everything, like Sora? I will, won't I..."

"The darkness in your heart will be sealed along with your memory," Namine confirmed, fiddling with the edge of her skirt. "You'll stop remembering the darkness. You can go back to the way you used to be. It's your choice, Riku. So...choose." The silver-haired young man looked over to where his friend slept, a peaceful smile on his face as though he was dreaming of the islands he had grown up on.

"Sora looks like he hasn't got a care in the world. Will I sleep that well?" he asked, sounding for once like a child being offered a chance he'd never had before. Namine wondered just how long it had been since he'd had a clear conscience, from what she had seen in Sora's memories, the things he had done would have weighed heavily on anyone's mind unless they were pure evil or couldn't care. Riku seemed to be neither.

"Yes," she admitted, Riku let out a weary sigh.

"Sora always did as he pleased. It doesn't matter what we were doing-he'd still go off and leave me with all the work. Take the raft we were gonna use to leave the islands. That was all me. I've made up my mind. When this slacker wakes up, I'm gonna tell him off good. I told him to take care of Kairi, and here he is taking a nap! But I can't chew him out if I've been sleeping, too. Keep your lock. I'd rather just finish Ansem off once and for all." Namine smiled, this was just the answer she had hoped for, though she had to at least make it seem like she was trying to persuade him the other way.

"But if the darkness he wields gets the better of you..." It hardly sounded like a protest, but Riku seemed not to notice, or he was just ready to assure her he had made the right decision.

"I'll make that darkness show me the way," he told her boldly, as though he was sure that now that he had decided something, it had to be true. She could only let her smile grow.

"That's true." He looked slightly confused by her response before he smiled as well.

"Why do I get the feeling you knew I'd say that?" he asked, she let out a soft laugh.

"I didn't know. I hoped. I want you to face the darkness, because you're the one who can," she informed him cheerfully.

"So that's why you came to me in the light. As Kairi." Namine stepped back in surprise.

"You knew?" she gasped, he smiled, tapping his nose.

"I knew as soon as I met you. Somehow you...smell the same. Look after Sora," he advised suddenly turning and walking to the door.

"I will," she promised to the door that closed on the image of Riku's retreating back.

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for this week! Hope you come back next week, though sadly the next few chapters are a bit shorter... Oh well, hopefully you'll like them! :) Anyway, if you liked the fic, please review, as they make my day when you do.**


	12. Moving Out

**A/N: Well, another Tuesday, another chapter! Sadly this one is on the shorter side, but hopefully it's just as good as all the other chapters! Thanks goes out to Axelyssa and Mystical for commenting-you guys are awesome! Anyway, on with the fic...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH sadly, but I do own my ideas-a lot of which happen to be in this chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12-Moving Out<strong>

"Moving out?" she asked, confused. The words felt strange in her mouth, and something gave her and almost sinking feeling. DiZ sighed and shook his head as though he thought she was stupid.

"We're leaving here to go to another place. Permanently. Sora will come with us, and Riku will follow eventually, but we will not return to this place." In response to this, the pound of imaginary rain on the rooftop rose to a deafening roar, as though the room itself objected. The single burning eye of his that could be seen flickered up once to the ceiling, then back down to her, as if telling her to do something about it.

"That's enough, I can't hear myself think with it this loud," Namine murmured, and the room went dead silent. She sighed, "That is not what I meant, and you know it." The single eyebrow of DiZ's that she could see shot up as the sound of rain returned to the room at normal volume. She gave a shrug as if to say 'I don't know,' to him.

"What-?"

"I don't know, it's been like this ever since Sora got rid of the Organization, she cut DiZ off to explain. "So, where are we moving to?" she asked.

"Twilight Town. Your scenery won't change much since we will be moving into the mansion that room you spend all of your time in is located in." She had to keep her jaw from dropping. They were moving to the real mansion? The rain volume shot up in protest again.

"Behave!" she hissed sharply, bringing the volume down again. "How will we transport...?"

"Never mind you how, just know it'll be done without issue. You're to have all of your papers and such collected together by tomorrow afternoon. We leave then." DiZ was gone in a flash and the rain volume rose to deafening yet again. This time, she didn't bother telling it to soften in volume once more, just turned to straighten the torn-out sketchbook pages already haphazardly tossed into a growing pile on the table into a stack that was just so perfectly straight. Then she moved to the sheets of paper tacked to the wall like some sort of odd, retro wallpaper and started to pull them off one by one.

As she did, she felt as though she was peeling away pieces of the heart she wasn't supposed to have. "I know," she sighed to the room itself. "I know it's lonely here. I'm almost sorry I can't stay here, but DiZ says that we need to go, and I have to listen to DiZ if I want to help Sora... I promise that I'll try to come back to visit if I can."

It was strange, she thought, that she could find herself unwilling to leave the place she had wanted to escape for so long. However, she also felt a strange kind of respect and love for the place called Castle Oblivion. She was the only one who seemed to truly understand the mazelike building, or at least she was capable of getting where she wanted to in the shortest possible time. She had woken up there first, wandered the halls until she was found by the Organization, and then was suddenly trapped by those same halls. Just as suddenly, those halls had become her sanctuary, and now she had to leave them behind.

She blinked as a picture came away from the wall in her hand. It was an older one she had loved when she had first drawn it-a very meticulously drawn picture of Sora, Riku, and Kairi (not her) playing on a beach on their homeworld (well, not Kairi's, but still). They were making a raft. She knew from altering his memories that this was the day that Sora received the power of the Keyblade, the day this whole mess started.

It was the first picture she'd drawn after Sora went to sleep. The first picture she had drawn when the room changed for her.

She had to admit that she really would miss Castle Oblivion when they left, she thought. Then she went back to pulling pictures off the wall among the deafening roar of imaginary rainfall protesting her leaving. All at once she felt as though she had a real friend. One she would have to leave soon.

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><p><strong>AN: And that would be it for this week, hopefully it's enough to keep you guys coming. :) Anyway, please review if you have anything to comment on or question, or anything like that-reviews make my day. See you next Tuesday!**

**(P.S.-Mystical, I have to ask, have you played CoM? You sound as if you haven't.)  
><strong>


	13. White Room Arrest

**A/N: Soooo, it's that day of the week again... Time to update! Sadly this chapter is a lot shorter than any other in Perfectionism at the moment, and I'm not quite happy with the short length, yet I think it makes a point pretty well... Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi again for betaing both this chapter and the next in advance, as well as Mystical and Quin for commenting-you guys are all awesome!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas...a lot of which make up this chapter. XD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13- White Room Arrest <strong>

She looked up at the single fiery eye that was visible amid the red bandages. "What?" she asked, feeling dizzy. DiZ stared her down, unblinking.

"I said, Namine, that you are not to leave this room. You will not do anything but your work, and you will do it as quickly as possible. Do not try to leave the room again," the man barked sharply, in such a way that made her step back, away from him before he turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him. It was done so forcefully that the walls shook and Namine flinched at the bang.

"Wow, didn't know he could get that mad," Riku breathed beside her.

"But I...but I..." she whispered in confusion, glancing from the door to Riku and back quickly enough to make her head spin. The boy standing next to her looked just as confused as she felt, really, staring at the door DiZ had slammed during his exit.

"Maybe he'll ease up once you've shown him you've done a lot of work?" he suggested, though he didn't sound as though he believed himself. She didn't really believe it either.

After a moment of silence, he headed for the door with a soft "Goodbye, Namine," in her direction as he grabbed the door handle. When he tried to open it, however, the door didn't budge. "What…?" he asked in confusion and pulled again. It still didn't move. "Is it stuck? He closed it pretty hard…" This time he yanked on the door handle so forcefully that Namine thought it a miracle that it didn't come clean off. However, it didn't come off and the door still hadn't moved. That was when the horrible realization dawned upon her.

"He locked me in…" she said in a whisper, body trembling. "He _locked _me _in_ the room." Riku turned to look at her, eye filled with some kind of emotion that she didn't recognize.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, then he left the room through a rather familiar method—he exited the room through a corridor of darkness, and left her alone. All alone. For the first time in her existence, Namine understood what true loneliness felt like, and it was nothing compared to how she had felt unable to find an exit in Castle Oblivion.

She stared at the door for a long time, frozen to that spot on the floor where she had been standing since DiZ had told her she wasn't allowed to leave the white room. When she finally did move, it was so she could sit down on the floor and cry.

As though the world felt her pain and wanted to ease it, it began to rain.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, that's it for this week, sorry for the pitiful length-I promise it's better by next chapter, seriously! It's already typed up. Anyway, I really appreciate reviews if you like the fic or questions and all that fun stuff, reviews make my day. :) See you guys next Tuesday!**


	14. Running

**A/N: You know, I almost completely forgot it was Tuesday? XD Whoops! Anyway, this is one of many of my more-liked ideas in part 2, though I'm not quite sure why wince this is the start of everything getting screwed up...again. Poor Nami, lol. Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for putting up wit hmy insane ideas and all that junk. Now, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH, and probably never will... I do own my ideas, though. :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14-Running<strong>

She sprinted through the forest, trees whipping past her as blurry, dark, vertical bars and her sandals slapped against the ground heavily. She was gasping for air, but she knew she'd never make it if she didn't keep going until she reached the large crack in Twilight Town's wall, where the town began and the woods ended. It was only then that she could stop—if she was lucky. Namine was fairly sure that he wouldn't follow her into the town, and if he did, he wouldn't be very likely to try and take her back in broad daylight with a bunch of people around. She could see her target just ahead, bright colors beckoned her from the crack, she only had a little farther to go and then she would be—

Then Riku slammed into her like a football player out of nowhere. She gasped as she flew forward, feet leaving the ground before her body slammed full-on into it and Riku's weight crashed down on top of her. "Get off! Let me go!" The desperation and anger in her voice was easily audible when she shouted at him, trying to squirm away at the same time. Neither tactic worked, but in some odd way it made her feel better. The tension of staying cooped up in the mansion's white room alone for days had driven her to desperation and frustration, leading up to her frantic temporary jailbreak in attempt to release some steam and allow her ability to recover some from its continual use over the past days. The pale-haired young man sat up, grabbed her arm and rolled her over so that she stared up at him angrily. Namine found herself a bit disappointed that she couldn't properly glare at him due to the fact he had recently taken to covering his eyes.

"What did you _think_ was gonna happen? _Where_ did you think you were going to go?" She flinched away as Riku's shouted reply was punctuated by a fist slamming into the ground beside her head. Namine was tempted to yank that fabric off his face in retaliation just to do _something_ rather than just lay there and listen to him shout at her.

"I _thought_ I was going to walk around town for a little while because _I_ am completely fried and tired from doing nothing but staying locked up in the white room, working on drawing and piecing Sora's memories back together for days! You cannot expect me to focus on the same thing indefinitely without break—I may be a Nobody, but I _am_ still a sentient being that has a life, or at least something close enough to it! What did you expect me to do? I am not an animal to be caged up or some tool to be ordered around to do your bidding!

"I know how important my job, is, okay? More than you or DiZ could ever understand; I know how important my job is. I want to see him awake too, you know? He made me a promise…" she stared up where she knew his eyes were behind the blindfold and tried not to cry. Above her, Riku frowned and moved away from her, allowing her to sit up.

"Sorry, look… I just… I'm a bit paranoid. You aren't the only one trying to fix their mistakes here. There are times when I wonder if he'll ever wake up. I can't go home without him, Kairi would be pretty mad if I did…" Riku turned his head away from her. "It's kinda funny; you're so much like her, yet you aren't like her at all."

"Kairi? How so?" Whereas most girls would have been offended, Namine's interest piqued. She glanced down and took a moment to brush off her dress, which she found had not been stained by some miracle.

"Just now, when you were yelling at me, I realized you both look fragile, but you are not fragile at all. You're both kind, but Kairi is more of the outgoing tomboy, where you're more the shy girl. You are both loyal to your friends and would do anything for them—I think you show this a little more than Kairi, though. After what you went through with Sora; what you're still going through… You're a lot alike, but both different, too. Almost like you are your own person, not a shadow," he elaborated, to which Namine smiled wistfully.

"I wish I could have this conversation with the replica here… He could have made his own future without eliminating you," she had to admit that she kind of missed "him," the hovering, overprotective replica of Riku whose memories she had altered to match Sora's altered ones under orders from Marluxia.

"I killed him. As he was fading, he wanted to know where he would go because of what he was… I couldn't tell him what I didn't know myself," Riku muttered as he shoved himself off the grass. "Come on, you wanted to go to town, right? I'll follow you, keep watch."

Namine snickered at the word "watch." "Sounds like that would be kinda hard to do with that piece of cloth over your eyes, but it's better than running from you," she told him as she stood as well and smiled at him.

"Alright now, _Kairi_, I wouldn't push it," he teased, a tiny smile tugging at his lips as well. "I need a break, too." Namine found herself a bit surprised at Riku's comment as they moved towards the crack in the wall before her thoughts wandered. She had never actually been inside Twilight Town itself, as Axel had never taken her into the town, and Namine understood why when she and Riku passed through the crack in the wall and into the town. She suddenly found herself staring at a familiar black coat across the small shopping center area. The boy wore his hood down so that the fading sunlight flinted off his sandy blond spikes, which were so wildly arranged around his head that it was almost comical.

Behind her, Namine heard Riku curse colorfully before she heard a rush of wind and he vanished. She knew in that instant that the boy was one of them, but he was more like her. He was also surprisingly familiar, it felt, but she just couldn't place a memory to the face now that she was looking at him.

He was Sora's Nobody; her most recent roadblock.

She sighed, knowing that she would have to give the orders for him to be eliminated soon enough. She wondered if he had any "friends" like Axel said that he had. She wondered what his name was, and if they treated him the same way they had treated her, and then she turned to go back to the mansion. She had lost the will to explore.

What she didn't know at the time was that it would be months before they spoke face-to-face, the cost of which would shift Riku's appearance and personality drastically, and leave another one of Vexen's creations "dead" for no reason other than simple misfortune of existence.

Maybe if she had known what was to come, she would have realized she had so much more that she could have run from.

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for this week, hope you guys liked it! If so, please comment/review, because that just makes my day. See you next week!**


	15. Hugs

**A/N: Hey, I didn't nearly forget to update today! XD Anyway, this chapter ended up being a lot shorter than I initially thought it would be, but it's still epic (in my opinion) even with the shortness. Anyway, thanks to Chibi, who managed to Beta yesterday in spite the fact she had just gotten home from getting pizza, was eating pizza, trying to play Wakfu (addicting game right there), and IMing me via Skype all at the same time-love you! Lol. Thanks also goes to Mystical and Mirae-no-sekai for reviewing! (Mystical, might I refer you to KH Wiki or Youtube to read about/watch Riku's CoM storyline? That's one of those massively long explanation answers I really don't want to explain here...) Anyway, on with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own KH beyond copies of the games/manga and some other stuff as well as fan art... OH! And my ideas, which make up most of this fic.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 15-Hugs<strong>

When he returns, she makes a huge deal out of it every time, like she's known him her whole life and he's come home after a long journey. In her head, he's the lucky one-he gets away from DiZ on a regular basis and doesn't have to deal with his jailor-like torment that she does. Thoughts of his return keep her from breaking down, because when that door opened to let a tall, black-covered figure in, everything got released. All the pent-up stress and hurt flew free in the moments that she dropped whatever she was doing, the way she shoved her chair backwards so quickly if nearly tipped over, shouting "Riku!" as she did. When she collided with that familiar solid figure and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, she was just glad that he didn't push her away. Sometimes, if she was lucky, he would hug her back like he really meant it and whisper "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," and Namine knew he was imagining that she was Kairi, but she learned to ignore that snide thought that whispered to her and said that she wasn't who he wanted to see, not the one he wanted to hug.

Then there came the question "Why is it that you greet me this way?" one day, out of the blue. Namine loosened her iron grip on Riku's body to lean back so she could see his face.

"Because I can do nothing else," she replied softly, flashing him that sad little smile hers that they both knew so well. "I can't wake Sora up any faster, I can't stand up to DiZ, I can't run, the only thing I can do if greet you like this to keep myself sane, so to speak. You, Riku, you can get away without DiZ hunting you down, so I let out everything in greeting you so I can keep going." Riku sighed, his arms then wrapped around her and hugged her close. For once, this hug was for her, and only her.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this. I'm sorry any of us got mixed up in this disaster... If it makes you feel any better, I try to ease my own guilt with these because there are some times when I honestly think you're the only one waiting for me to come back," he said quietly, causing her eyes to widen.

"But what about the king and Sora? What about Kairi?" she asked. Riku's grasp on her tightened a fraction.

"The king is always moving around, and Sora's asleep, so that doesn't count. Kairi...she's always seemed to care just a little bit more about Sora than me. She wouldn't want to see me unless I came back with Sora." Namine shook her head slowly.

"Stop telling yourself things like that."

"I can't tell myself anything else. Can't tell myself anything apart from 'Come on, Namine's waiting for you. Namine wants to see you again. Namine cares about what happens to you.' It's got to be the most pathetic thing in the world, but it's nice to be able to fool myself into thinking that someone cares about me. Nice to pretend that you miss me when no one else would, nice to think for a moment that there's someone out there who knows me and what I've done and doesn't hate me for it." Namine found that she couldn't say anything out of sheer surprise that flooded her and froze her where she was as Riku rested his chin against the top of her head. "Thank you, Namine. Thank you for making me feel like you care," he whispered, and then he let her go, and was out the door before she could reply.

"Thank you too, Riku. Thank you for letting me care about you," the special little Nobody whispered to the white door.

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><p><strong>AN: Annnnnnd that's it for this week! XD I hope you enjoyed it since I really had fun writing all the fluffyness that is this chapter. Reviews are love guys, if you liked the chapter/have questions/just wanna say hi/etc, I really appreciate reviews-they make my day. See you all next Tuesday! (I'm beyond excited, this next chapter is probably my overall favorite of all the ones I have written so far, and that's saying something...)**

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><p>AN


	16. Visiting

**A/N: WHOOT! Tuesday! Lol, anyway, I have to say I really like this chapter for some odd reason. XD However those thinking that I was leaning towards RikuNami the past few chapters...sorry. XD Moving on, thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing yet again, as well as Demmmy and Mirae-no-Sekai for reviewing, love you guys! Now, let's get on with the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH, just my ideas. :)  
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><p><strong>Chapter 16-Visiting<strong>

It was raining the day he visited her. When the door opened, she stood and prepared to hug the door-opener, as she expected to find Riku. The casual "Hey there, long time no see, Nami," stopped her dead in her tracks. The tall and unnaturally thin redhead grinned at her as though he was truly greeting an old friend. "You aren't too terribly hard to find ya' know?"

"Axel?" Namine could do no more than stare at him in complete horror—sure, DiZ had said that he wasn't dead, but she really hadn't expected the fiery-haired Nobody to just waltz into the mansion's white room like he owned the place. That aside, she had no idea what he wanted; was he really there to simply exchange a few friendly words like old times, or was he there to kill her? He took a step towards her and she backed up straight into her chair, causing her to stumble for a moment. His smile flickered for a moment before he stopped and looked around at all the pictures she had since tacked to the walls.

"That's m'name, got it memorized?" The question was murmured as if purely by instinct as he continued to inspect her artwork displayed on the walls. Namine noted that once in a while he would seem to pause on one for a moment longer than any of the other pictures in his inspection. "I like what you've done with the room. Front's still a pigsty, though."

"I'm not allowed to leave this room very often. Can't clean up the front room if I can't leave this one," she answered sharply which in turn caused Axel to raise his eyebrows at her.

"How long's it been since Keyblade-boy offed Marly? Two months?" She shrugged in response to Axel's question. "What? Ya' don't got it memorized?" She shook her head.

"No way to keep track of time."

"Whatever. It's been about two months since Sora got rid of Flower Petals, yet someone's already bossing you around again?" She nodded again and Axel sighed, facepalming as he did.

"But DiZ wants Sora better, too. It's not so bad…"

"You can't go outside this room! It's no better than working under Marluxia!" The pyro's counter was punctuated by a loud thud as his fisted hands slammed down on her table. Namine noted that he sounded almost annoyed, maybe even angry. She looked on quietly, fear coming to the surface even as a sad little smile pulling at her lips.

"It's not too different, so why should I try to care? It's my punishment for being me. For doing what I've done." Why should she ever expect to be free after everything she had done? At least Riku came to see her, that was better than before, as was working to fix Sora rather than hurt him. She wouldn't ask for more than that; any more at that point would have been too much, she'd have been overstepping her bounds if she asked for anything else.

"You only did that because you were threatened!" The fists that had been planted on the table flew into the air in a sign of exasperation, yet she did not blink.

"I should have been brave enough to stand up for myself and not fall to threats." Her words were softly spoken but firm enough that he could tell she meant every word.

"You're too hard on yourself, you know?" He asked in what sounded like defeat to which Namine only responded with a teeny tiny smile that said she knew.

"Why are you here, Axel? Your superior tell you to kill me?" It was a cold question, no emotion (real, faked, or half-felt) behind it at all. It seemed to almost unnerve him or at least take him by surprise because Axel took a step back, his eyes widening at her before he regained his composure and shook his head.

"Nah, he thinks you ran away for now, and doesn't really care. He's more preoccupied with trying to find Sora. I'm just here to see if you ended up here out of curiosity." He stepped over to her table and sat down on it as though he thought he was still in Castle Oblivion.

"Well I did, happy now?" Namine snapped, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. Then, before she could think better of it, she blurted out "And your superior won't find Sora any time soon!" The pyro raised his eyebrows at her outburst as Namine slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Can't be happy, Nami, remember? Nobody. As for Xemnas not finding Sora, that has your name written in crayon all over it. Spill." She sighed around her hand, looking at the floor and Axel's feet. "You're fixing him, aren't you? The pictures say it all."

Out of nowhere, she was struck with a memory—of seeing a familiar black coat under the dusk-orange glow of the Town, of seeing sunlight glinting off wildly gelled spikes, of Riku cursing colorfully and then woosh—he was gone. He told her months ago that Sora was like one of his friends and that day she had seen his Nobody; suddenly it all clicked. "There was a boy I saw once, he wore a coat like you and the others wore and he had really spiky, sandy blond hair—was he the friend you were talking about that one time?" Axel's eyes narrowed at her sharply.

"I thought you couldn't leave." Suddenly his whole demeanor had changed from mostly relaxed and fairly smug to tense, incredibly so, and almost—almost—worried.

"DiZ was away once and I got fed up of being stuck in here, so I bolted for maybe ten minutes. I made it into town and saw him, but I didn't trust the coat, so I came back. Ruined my plans to blow off some steam, but I saw him, and it just came to mind." It didn't ease the tension, but his eyes slowly seemed to return to normal. At least she didn't feel like he was trying to burn a hole through her now.

"Yeah," he finally said quietly, looking out the window. "He's the one I meant when I said I had a friend like Sora. His name's Roxas." She felt a jolt of familiarity at the name, smiling slightly as he confirmed her suspicions, then quickly hid it. Axel would have hated her if he'd known; would have killed her right there if he'd known she would be the reason he would have to lose his friend. Both his friends—not that either knew that yet.

There was silence for a moment, and in that silence, she heard footsteps approaching the door way too quickly. Too close, they were too close, she thought; then she realized that Riku had left the day before so those footsteps could one belong to—"DiZ!" she hissed, panic rising up and pinning her to the floor. The door flew open a half-second later to reveal her red-clad jailor. "Namine, what are you doing?"

She blinked slowly, why didn't he go wild at the sight of Axel? Wasn't he upset about the guy sitting on the…oh. That was why.

Namine now stood in the room alone; there was no trace of Axel having been there at all. "…I'm sorry, I must have dozed off," Namine murmured, looking to her feet. "I had a nightmare that someone from my past was visiting."

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week! Hope to see you again next Tuesday!**


	17. Out and About

**A/N: Annnnnd it's Tuesday again, guys! Know what that means? Update time! The thing about this chapter is this-I had it partially written when I got around to typing it earlier this week, but I never expected it to be this long...or admittedly this fun. XD I had waaaaaay too much fun completely mangling the English language in the name of Aura's accent...which, if it will help you understand her any better, imagine an accent somewhere between British and Australian, and see if that helps...that's what I did when I was writing for her, sooooo, yeah... Thanks goes out to the amazing Chibi for reading through all that butchered text, as well as Mirae-no-Sekai and Quin for reviewing. Love you guys!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing but Aura and my ideas are mine.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17-Out and About<strong>

"You need to get out. Seriously." That was what Riku told her when he opened the door of the white room to be greeted not by cheer and a hug, but the sight of Namine sitting on the floor, surrounded by half-finished drawings on crumpled paper, and nearly in tears, mumbling. When he got closer, he realized she was mumbling 'I'm sorry it's not perfect,' over and over again until he touched her shoulder and asked (whispered, really, like he thought she'd shatter into a tiny pieces if he spoke any louder) if she was okay. She'd screamed 'I can't think!' at him in response.

"I _need_ to sleep, too, but DiZ won't let me do _that_, either," she had responded so flatly and snappishly that he'd been thrown for a complete loop. This was not Namine-not the Namine he knew, anyway. DiZ was working the poor girl to the point of complete exhaustion and obviously to the point of what appeared to be a mental breakdown.

"Well I don't know how he expects to make any progress with you like this. I'll talk to him, he can't really say no if you're not getting anything done anyway. And if he does, I'll break you out myself. You can't do anything otherwise, and that's just not fair, you shouldn't be caged up like this-no one should." She just looked up at his face quietly, blinking as though she was waking up from a long sleep to find that time had shot forward so many years that she couldn't understand the language he was speaking. Kindness wasn't something she was really used to, especially now that DiZ was around more often to ensure that she stayed locked up and Riku was always gone. Axel's brand of kindness irritated her, and Riku's...

She remembered the day she ran and how they'd talked once he'd tackled her to prevent her escape, as well as their conversation about hugs and her greetings. _"It's kinda funny, you're so much like her, yet you aren't,"_ and _"It's got to be the most pathetic thing in the world, but it's nice to be able to fool myself into thinking that someone cares what happens to me. Nice to pretend that you miss me when no one else would, nice to think that for a moment there's someone out there who knows what I've done and doesn't hate me for it."_ She remembered how they had gone from angry and yelling at each other to talking quietly and being almost happy and she remembered how he had hugged her back, really hugged her-not some make-believe Kairi-as he told her how 'pathetic' he was, his chin resting atop her head and making her feel small and frail by comparison. _"I couldn't tell him what I didn't know myself,"_ and _"Thank you, Namine. Thank you for making me feel like you care."_

Riku's 'kindness' was complicated. She wasn't sure if he was being kind because she was part of Kairi or if he was being kind to be kind. Namine didn't understand it, but at this point, her brain didn't feel like working after all the work she'd been doing.

Riku sighed and patted her shoulder again. "Why don't you pick up these papers on the floor? I'll go talk to DiZ and be back soon, okay?" Pick up papers? Yes, she could do that, she nodded slowly and then proceeded to gather up the papers on the floor and pile them on the table. Once she started, Riku left, quietly closing the door behind him.

She went slowly, smoothing out the crumpled ones and stacking them as best she could so that all the edges matched up before she put them in small stacks on the table. Once all the small stacks were piled on the table and there was no more paper on the floor, she began combining the stacks and making one large, perfectly straight stack from them. She was almost done when Riku came back in and told her that DiZ was letting them go without much of a fight. From there he led her out of the white room, and from there out the mansion and into the woods.

"...I can't walk with you, though. Just follow and watch out for you, understand?" he asked, she nodded in response.

"Yes, Riku," she laughed. "It would be hard to explain your appearance anyway." Namine could feel her pent-up stress slowly easing.

"And if you see anyone in a black coat-"

"If I can prevent it, don't let them see me. If I can't, run and you'll take care of it." His mouth hung slightly open in surprise when she cut him off. Namine could only laugh at him again. "I know, Riku. I don't exactly plan to go running to them-I don't want to go back... You know, now I know where the replica got his pushy protective instincts." Riku simply frowned at her.

"I'm not pushy," he said, the protest coming out sounding more like a pout. This time she bit back a snort.

"Riku, you've given me the same set of instructions four times now. In a row." The fact was pointed out with amusement rather than annoyance, however, Riku did not reply, frown still firmly set on his lips. They had reached the crack in the wall that led to Twilight Town, and once both were through, she heard Riku run quickly towards what seemed to be the nearest building. She was on her own now, it seemed, in the brightly colored town.

Namine found herself back in the shopping center area again, but this time the boy (Roxas, she reminded herself) wasn't there, though she was somewhat glad for it. That meant that she could continue using up her free time and didn't have to go back to the white room just yet. She passed a bit of this time window shopping at the stores in the area, but when the owner of the third store snapped at her to buy something or be on her way, she ran to the nearest escape from the area as she could. That was how she ended up in a rather lonely-looking area populated by nothing much beyond a few benches, some kind of big chalkboard, and a few people-two of which nearly mowed her over as she stepped into the area.

The girl came first, in a flash of brown and black that would have slammed smack into her had the girl not seemed to look back just in time to sidestep rather than back out of the way, shouting "Move!" as she did. This was just in time for the guy who had been attempting to attack the girl who had sidestepped to veer out of the way enough that he only barely missed colliding with her. As he passed, the girl reached out with the blue batlike object in her hand and whacked the guy on the shoulder, punctuating it with the call of "Point fifty, Almasy, still my favor!" The guy grunted as he stumbled to a stop, turned, and proceeded to chase after the girl again. Intrigued, Namine stepped more inside the area, mindful of the pair fighting. The guy looked like your standard punk-beanie cap covering his head, blue top without sleeves that bared his midriff to the rest of the world, too-baggy pants tucked into combat boots, and a white duster-style coat with the sleeves also missing. The girl looked like a bit of a punk herself, pair of goggles acted as a headband to hold back her short brown hair, black tank top bore a cartoonish skull, a pair of shorts half-hidden by her top's length, and boots of her own. At the very least, the pair looked like trouble, darting around each other, lashing out at each other with the blue bats they held. Out of nowhere, another girl called out across the area from her.

"End in ten!" The boy lunged forward, the girl spun out of the way with a soft laugh.

"Nine!" The blue bat in her hand flicked out, but the boy seemed to expect it this time and knocked it away.

"Eight!" He used the opening he created to try to strike at the girl, but she seemed to expect this just as he had expected her last move, and brought her bat up to block him.

"Seven!" They broke away in a whirl of coattails and brown hair, and were flying together again before the call of "Six!" rang out.

"Five!" He clipped her shoulder as she smacked his leg, and they broke apart again.

"Four!" The girl spun to the side as they came together again, slipping around the boy like water to bring her bat up and-

"Three!" The sound of the bat contacting the back of his shoulders was audible, Namine found herself flinching. The guy just grunted and they broke apart once more.

"Two!"

"Whassa matter, Almasy? Tha' last un getcha? Fifty-five, now!" the girl taunted, words coming out sounding sharp and odd to Namine's ears.

"One!" The guy lunged for ther, but the girl danced out of the way, laughing louder than she had the last time as the other girl called "Zero! Match over." Behind the girl, a much larger guy groaned.

"Man! Seifer lost again, y'know?" he shouted, only causing the winner to laugh louder.

"Eh, un'a days I figure Almasy'll eitha learn how t' win or jus' stop tryin'. Tha's...six wins in a row t'day? Pretty sure tha's it. Six wins." More of that odd, mangled speech poured from her mouth like water, like the way she had spun around her opponent to stike him across his shoulder blades. "I figure I'm done fa now," she said, dropping the bat like it was nothing and jogging towards Namine. "'Ey there, sorry 'bout nearly knockin' ye ova'. Name's Aura, nice t' meetcha," she said, extending her hand to her in greeting. Tentatively, Namine reached out her own hand and shook the girl's.

"My name is Namine, nice to meet you too, I guess. As for nearly running me over, it's fine, no harm done." The girl smiled at her and released Namine's hand.

"M'glad. Wasn't expectin' anybody t' show up, really, but m' glad I saw ye... Ye new here? Haven't seen ye 'round," Aura asked, and she nearly panicked for a moment before an excuse close enough to the truth popped into her head.

"I've been living here for awhile now, but I haven't gotten to leave the house much." The girl nodded as though she understood.

"Ah. I can understand that, m' 'rents were the same way 'til I ditched 'em." Namine blinked in surprise at the casual way the girl mentioned that she had run away from home. "Couldn' be what they wanted, so I ran 'n didn' look back. Still 'aven't regretted it," she said, seemingly noticing the look Namine had given her when she'd said she ditched her parents.

"Why couldn't you be what they wanted?" The questioned popped out of Namine's mouth without thought other than some sick curiosity. Aura smirked, lips picking up a funny kind of quirk at the corners, and causing the ever-present twilight sun to highlight a small, thin scar on her cheek.

"They're 'lit'le princess' was a wild child, a befriender 'a street rat children. Snuck outta her bedroom window an' 'voided lessins to play 'ith the dirty comm'ner children. I wasn' some kind of perfec' lit'le doll fa display. I wanted t' _do_. I 'ad _dreams_ by far more wild than eny otha gal m' age." The girl's expression grew slightly mocking, but she smiled again when she looked back down at Namine. "I was an abomination to them. Nothing they wanted anything to do with, so I saved them the embarrassment and ran away to do as I pleased." Namine suddenly became aware that this was the first time the girl had spoken without the harsh and mangled accent, her words still had a distinct oddness to them, but they were no longer broken and as hard to understand. Why was that? Was it optional? Was the other one acquired? Or was that mangled way of speech simply the way she wanted to speak?

"Oh…" she murmured, glancing away. Aura laughed and gently patted the girl's shoulder with slightly rough, but dry, cool hands.

"Yer alright, y'know? But m' decision…i's not fa everyone. I did what was right fa me, f'othas it might not be the right choice. Ye dunno 'nless ye run and see the world for yourself of not… 'Ey, i's gettin' a tad late out 'n I'm kinna 'spected somewhere, but I dun' mind a bit talkin' t' ye s'more lata'. Jus' ask 'round the town f'Aura an' I'm sure they'll pointcha 'n the right d'rection. 'Ow 'bout it, Namine?" The question took her off guard, but Namine found herself nodding.

"Sure, Aura." The brown-haired girl gave her another smirk and a pat on the shoulder and then she was gone, tearing off down the street.

New ideas in her head, Namine returned to the mansion's white room with Riku, certain that she had made her first real, human friend on her own rather than through circumstance. She doubted she would see the odd-talking girl again, but the idea still warmed the heart that she wasn't supposed to have.

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for this week, though I may or may not be able to post next Tuesday due to being on a trip for Spring Break... If I do, yay! If I don't, you have been warned... XD Anyway, if you've got anything to say about the chapter/story/anything like that, I really appreciate reviews. :) See you around!**


	18. Friends

**A/N: Hello there, guys! Sorry about not updating last week, but I honestly didn't have the time to write a chapter, let alone update, so hopefully you'll forgive me now that I'm back to regular updates! XD Thanks goes out to Chibi for putting up with Axel for long enough to beta this chapter, as well as Armyx, Mirae-no-Sekai, and XIIIXV for reviewing! Oh, and Char as well, though she's on another site... You're all awesome, seriously. Now, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: What belongs to SE belongs to SE, what's mine belongs to me. (Too lazy to write out a real disclaimer)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 18-Friends <strong>

"Here," Namine looked at the blue bar of ice cream Axel held out to her blankly. "_Nami_, it's ice cream, you eat it. And if you don't eat yours soon, it'll melt and bandage-face will know I was here," the taunt worked, she took the ice cream and sank her teeth in, barely suppressing a yelp of surprise. Axel slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from guffawing, his whole body quaking with smothered laughter.

"Not...not like that, _Nami_," he finally gasped once he had stopped laughing enough to get the words out. She gave him a glare in reply.

"That information would have been helpful beforehand, Axel," she told him sourly. "And what's in that stuff anyway, it tastes funny."

"It's called sea salt ice cream, my friends and I eat it together all the time." Friends? He had more than one now? How anyone could be friends with that jerk, Namine would never know.

"Like Roxas?" The question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Axel sighed and shook his head.

"Yes, like Roxas. That ice cream is part of how we became friends, got it memorized? Maybe if you eat it, you'll make friends, too." The words stung. Namine looked away from Axel, towards the window with its picture-perfect view of the forest and part of the town. The other Nobody seemed to realize what he had said quickly, and stumbled over his own words in haste to apologize.

"Sorry, forgot you can't go out... Guess I didn't have THAT little detail memorized."

"Well, DiZ let me go out the other day..." she admitted quietly, causing Axel to park himself firmly on her table so he could lean into her view. "But it was only because I was so stressed that I couldn't work."

"And?"

"I met a girl."

"Ooooh, I didn't know you went THAT way Na-ow!" Axel jumped off the table in surprise as Namine punched him in the arm, glaring, before she went about eating her ice cream the right way.

"She and some guy nearly ran into me while playing some weird game with blue bats where they hit each other-" she said once she took a pause in enjoying the cold treat.

"That game would be called Struggle, the local kids play it a lot," Axel interrupted helpfully.

"Would you let me finish, please? Anyway, after they finished, she walked over and apologized to me for nearly running into me. We talked for a little while, and she was really nice, if a little hard to understand." She punctuated the sentence with a lick of the ice cream bar.

"Which means you were probably talking to Aura." Namine jumped as Axel said the girl's name.

"How did you-?" Axel held up a hand, his index finger lifted, to cut her off.

"She isn't a native of this world. Her accent? She has it because she comes from another world, like us. She ended up in Twilight Town on accident and decided she liked it there, which is why she stays. She was a person of interest for a little while, but she's been pretty much forgotten by most-especially with Roxas and Xion around..." Xion? Who was that? While the name was completely knew to her, something in her head clicked. It was like it had been with Roxas's name, something just sounded...familiar to her.

"Fine then, if you know so much about my potential friend, then tell me about yours," Namine countered around a mouth full of sea salt ice cream. Axel grinned, not seeming to think twice about.

"Fine, I will," he countered, sitting back down and grinning at her. "Roxas, well, he's a lot like Sora. I've told you that, got it memorized? However he's a bit of a doof. He's kind of like you, too, no memories of before, so he's always asking questions, or more often, he finds out things the hard way. He does all sorts of strange things because he doesn't quite understand certain things, and then comes to me asking what he did or said wrong. He understands fighting well enough, though, and he can be a bit overly serious about the wrong things, but he's an okay kid. You'd like him, I think, but I don't think he could keep quiet about you, and then Xemnas would find out...and then we'd both be in a lot of trouble, wouldn't we?" Namine found herself laughing although the statement was ominous and suggested that if the Organization found out she was alive, with Sora in her possession, and Axel not only knew about it but had been visiting her, they would both most likely wish that they could regret it.

"I guess we would." She only noticed then that Axel was looking at her as though she was a madwoman. "What?"

"Nothing, I just never thought you would be the kind to laugh at something like that."

"I never expected to be trying to avoid trouble with you of all people, Axel." Axel blinked as she smiled and went back to eating her ice cream.

"You aren't the only one, _Nami_. However, I will admit you seem to be the best person to avoid trouble with-you don't live in the same castle and don't mind talking about the trouble we're avoiding once we're behind closed-and locked-doors," Axel offered, and while she didn't laugh again, Namine did smile.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Axel... However, if you think compliments are going to get me off the subject of your friends, you're wrong. I know about Roxas, what about the other one, Xion?" Axel rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke again.

"Xion...well, she's pretty close to Roxas, but it's understandable since they're a lot alike. She's a bit less outgoing, though, again, kind of like you, but she's been getting better about it... She's even kind of shy..." Axel let the words drift through the air for moment, and said nothing more.

"Is that all you're going to give me on her?" Namine pushed, Axel sighed.

"You'd like her too, and while she'd be less likely to tell on us, everyone's so intrigued by her that they would notice if she went missing for a little while. I wouldn't count on meeting her, either," he told her. Namine frowned even as she polished off the last of her ice cream. "But then again, maybe I just feel like keeping my other friend a secret," he said, a smug tone creeping into his voice.

"What?" Namine asked, blinking in surprise.

"Maybe I just want to keep you a secret. Maybe I don't feel like sharing this friend with anyone."

"I thought you said you couldn't feel."

"Maybe I'm keeping that a secret, too."

"Maybe you should stop being such a tease, Axel."

"Maybe I don't feel like doing that, either. Does the stick say anything?" The question caught Namine off guard, causing her to look down at the partly blue-tinted stick in her hand, then look up at Axel in confusion.

"It says 'Winner,' Axel. Why?" She said curiously, Axel smiled.

"Because you're a winner, obviously." Namine frowned at the other Nobody's circular answer, but said nothing as he plucked the stick out of her hand. Why should she? She didn't need a popsicle stick to tell her what she already knew-things had changed with Marluxia's death. Sure, she had messed up, but she was fixing that. Yes, DiZ acted like a jailor, but that didn't change the fact Riku and Axel came to visit her...for the first time in her life, she had friends. She was a winner.

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><p><strong>AN: Whoo! And that's it for this week, hope you guys enjoyed it, and can't wait to (hopefully) see you all again next Tuesday! I really appreciate reviews, if you don't mind taking the time to write one.**

**...Now I gotta go record some lines for a machinima audition and get a roleplay post done, so seeya' next week. :)  
><strong>


	19. Shock

**A/N: Whoot! It's Tuesday and time for another update! ...Wow, I can't believe I've managed to make it 19 chapters... Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing, and Armyx for reviewing!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer-My ideas are mine. SE's characters and places belong to SE.  
><strong>

**Chapter 19-Shock**  
>She sat in her chair, staring down at the paper blankly, unsure of what it meant exactly. The person she had drawn was not one she recognized, at least not by name.<p>

She looked like Kairi with black hair, and she wore a coat like Axel's. She looked up at the face of another, who went unseen, with what appeared to be desperation on her face. What bothered her most were the girl's eyes-unmistakably full of hurt and confusion, something Namine knew probably shouldn't be there. She was wearing a black coat-that meant no heart; at least that was what it was supposed to mean.

She was still sitting there when the door opened on a familiar black coat. Picture forgotten, she stood quickly, without bothering to push the chair back, which resulted in it hitting the floor, but she didn't care. Not now that he was here. "Riku!" she cried as she ran across the room to greet him and knocking the breath out of herself when she collided with his body and wrapped her arms around him in her usual hug. However this time, her momentum actually kept them going and she gave a gasp of surprise as they fell. Riku didn't seem to care, grunting as he took the impact of their bodies hitting the floor, and not bothering to sit up, instead finally wrapping his arms around her. That was when she noticed he was shaking; when he hugged her to him so tightly it kind of hurt, and didn't say a word. "Riku...? Riku, you're hurting me," she whispered, scared to speak much louder than that. Something was off about him; he seemed upset, but at the same time she wasn't quite sure what about.

"Did you know about the girl?" he asked finally, confusing her.

"What girl? What happened while you were gone?" Namine asked, still whispering and worried about the boy that she considered her friend.

"The one that looks like Kairi. The one with the fake keyblade." The description slammed the image from the picture on the table to the front of her mind, and she bit her lip. One arm lifted from her body to tug up the cloth over his eyes so that one sea green eye inspected her face. "You knew," he accused, voice hardening. She shook her head quickly.

"No, I just drew her. The picture is still on the table... I didn't even know who she was..." she was telling the truth, if she had known the girl would have had this effect on Riku, she would have found a way to warn him. Something told her she would have if she had known.

"Looks like we're going to need to find out, sooner or later. I'll keep on doing my job, you just keep doing yours." Namine sighed and tightened her grip on Riku.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked quietly, Riku laughed softly.

"As okay as I always am." Namine frowned at that, but she knew there was nothing that she could say to make him feel any better about the situation. It was always like this, she realized. Him always mocking himself or not admitting how he really felt about anything and leaving her more worried about him than if he had come in all beaten up, or if he had come in having an emotional breakdown, or even when he came in in shock like he just had. Slowly, Riku sat up, taking her with him. "Worry about Sora, not me. He needs your help more than I do." She wanted to scream at him that no he didn't, Sora was asleep and not tearing himself apart from the inside out like he was, like she had done before him. He needed help, Sora needed her to draw, but she didn't say a word, because it would do no good.

Because it was always like this, and that would never change.

Once Riku had them both sitting up, he stood and, again, took her with him. "I'll be okay," he said softly, but she wasn't sure if he was reassuring her or himself. "I'm sorry, I've got to go. I'll find out about the girl, you just keep working and I'll be back before you know it, okay?" She wanted to tell him that no, it was not okay. That she wanted him to stop working himself to death, like he had made her do, but again, she didn't. She just watched him walk out the door, away from her, biting her lip.

It was always like this, it would never change. She wanted to run after him, tell him how you did stupid things when you were desperate, how she hoped he would stay safe, how she wanted him to make sure he came back, but she couldn't. DiZ made him lock the door behind him, and she would never say anything anyway because she knew nothing would ever change anyway.

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><p><strong>AN: Whelp, that's it for this week! Hope to see you guys next week! Also, if you have anything to say/ask/comment on, please leave a review-they make my day!**


	20. Quiet

**A/N: Sorry about not updating last week-seriously, I would have loved to, but I had a project to complete that took all weekend, and then I was up until 2 a.m. on Tuesday night (when I normally update) sewing a 15-and-a-half foot long stuffed snake as a model for the aforementioned project. If you would like to see the result (or the proof that I'm not lying, lol) go look up my dA page-I'm Winter-Oneechan there, proof would be in the picture entitled "Meet Tiny." Lol, anyway, thanks to Chibi for being my Beta, as always, as well as Armyx and Rushninja for reviewing last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: KH is not mine. My ideas are mine. Got it memorized?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 20-Quiet<strong>

Riku nor Axel had come to see her in what felt like forever. Nothing but her drawings kept her company now-her drawings and the occasional visit from DiZ, who seemed to not know what to do with her on his own. She wasn't quite what she expected, he made that clear nearly every time he took the time to talk to her, and it made her slowly growing sarcastic streak want to lash out at him. "What did you expect?" she wanted to ask him. "A completely emotionless slave totally subservient to you?" However she did a good job of keeping her mouth shut and feeding him the answers he wanted most of the time. In between his random visits, it was quiet. All too quiet.

With a sigh, she dropped the crayon on the table and stood. She couldn't take sitting any more right now, and the silence was driving her crazy. The eternal twilight that was cast over this world she lived in now fell through the window and onto the floor and walls uninterrupted, the past few weeks had been clear, devoid of the rain that she loved to see so much. The patter of it on the roof would have been a wonderful way to break the silence, but no rain came. This was not her room in Castle Oblivion, it did not do as she wished-it didn't even do things she wished it not to do. It was a normal room in an abandoned house, not her favorite room in the seemingly sentient castle that she had been born in, and that thought only made her feel more lonely. Another emotion she shouldn't have felt, but she did. Her old imperfections had not changed, at least, Namine was happy to learn.

When the door opened with an audible click, she did not bother turning around. She knew it wasn't Riku, only DiZ, there to tell her to work faster, she assumed. "It's quiet in here," the older man said in that monotone she was beginning to notice more and more. Now that he was spending less of his time yelling at her, there were a lot of things she noticed about DiZ.

"No Riku, no rain, not even the slight sentience in the room to keep me company... Yes, DiZ, it is quiet. Quiet and lonely," she said softly, lifting a hand to press her palm flat against the cool pane of glass, unclouded by water or smudges.

"I used to know a place like that," the words were spoken so quickly and softly that she wasn't sure if she had really heard them come from the red-clad man. After a moment more of silence, he spoke again, louder this time. "Would you like to see Sora?" The question came out of nowhere, striking Namine so hard that she spun around to face DiZ, eyes wide.

"You mean, I can...?" The man nodded wordlessly. "Yes, please!" she gasped, quickly shooting down the urge to hug him. She hadn't seen Sora since DiZ locked her up in the white room, and she wanted to see him again. DiZ did not reply with words, but a simple smile that she had never seen before before he turned and walked out of the room, leaving the door open. It took her a moment of confusion before she realized that he meant for her to follow, immediately after which she ran after the retreating red figure to catch up. "How is he?" she asked DiZ's back, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"Same as the day you put him there, probably with a good deal of his memories repaired. He's grown a little, but that's it," the older man replied, voice as impassive as ever, though it amazed him how lively she had suddenly become, moving from almost sad to cheerful and excited. He almost laughed at how she was struggling to keep up with him, jogging along.

She paused only to look down at the front room, which was no better than it had been when they first moved in-DiZ had only assured that the rooms he that were going to be in use were cleaned out. Dust and glass littered the floor from where kids had broken them long before she had ever set foot in the place; Axel had warned her about the glass the first time they had left the mansion to look at the woods together, walking in front of her and kicking most of the glass out of her path and Riku had done much the same when he had taken her out of the mansion that one time, she remembered with a faint smile before shaking her head. She missed them, yes, but those were thoughts for later-she was going to go see Sora now.

She followed DiZ at an almost solid jog across the second level and into a room across the main area from her, which lead into a library, where she missed exactly what the red-clad man did, but it caused the floor of the room to slide back and reveal a set of stairs leading downward. They descended them, Namine nearly falling once because of the dimness which surrounded them during their descent, and ended up in a room lit only by the soft glow of computers. DiZ lead her on, across a large, empty room and into another, smaller white room, where and metal rack hung from the ceiling, suspended from which were two smaller pods, containing-

"Donald and Goofy!" she cried, breezing past DiZ to assure herself that Sora's friends were as alright as Sora himself. She had finished their memories long ago, they had been easy to repair since she had not done as much damage to them, only pulled a few memories apart here and there...Sora's was the challenge she had been working on for so long that still wasn't done with. She still had so many more to go-the boy was making it worse, and some time ago, a third interference had started, but she had no idea what it could be or where it was. At this point, she was more concerned with fixing what she could still gather up before Roxas took them anyway.

"Yes, yes, they are fine as well, did you think I would not treat them as well as Sora? Speaking of Sora, I thought he was who you wanted to see, not his friends." Namine was tempted to reply that with the way he had treated her so far, she had been skeptical, but she kept her mouth shut. She would not allow this chance to be taken from her. After a moment, DiZ beckoned to the doorway around the corner, and she stepped up to it alone, took the knob in her hand, then twisted and pushed. The door allowed her to enter, and when she slid around it, everything got bright.

The room where his pod was being kept was brighter than the last, walls white and blank, seeming to stretch forever, surround her like a gaping white abyss. There was nothing but the pod there, and the moment her eyes landed on it, everything she had held back, let build up until now, came flooding back to her-how sorry she was, her missing Castle Oblivion, the frustration of being free only a short time before letting herself be caged in again, how Riku seemed to be falling apart the last time she had seen him, which had felt like forever ago… And she fell apart as she ran across the room to peer past the frosty, translucent doors of the pod. On the opposite side, she could see Sora's face, his eyes closed and expression oddly calm and peaceful, as though he had just settled down for a night of sleep and never woke up. "Sora," she whispered, pressing her forehead to the largest door panel in front of her. "So much has happened, and it's only been a few months… But I'm trying to wake you up as soon as I can. I really am—Riku needs you. He's going crazy without you to tease, I think, and I…I still want to see our promise through, too. I…" she stopped herself before she said that she had made friends out of Axel and Riku, maybe even Aura, if she ever even got to see the girl again.

No answer came to her. He couldn't answer, he was asleep. The room was even quieter than the one she had left to follow DiZ here to see Sora.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it this week! See you guys next Tuesday...unless something else ridiculous comes up. Lol. Anyway, reviews are appreciated, they make my day and give me inspiration... Seeya later!  
><strong>


	21. Roadblock

**A/N: Another week, another chapter! I actually really got into this one, and it has art to go with it that can be found here - (winter-oneechan . deviantart . com /#/d4zjenc) if you feel like looking. Anyway, thanks to Chibi for betaing, as always, as well as rushninja for reviewing and Armyx for giving me his two cents worth, lol. You guys are awesome!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 21-Roadblock <strong>

She had been drawing after yet another visit to Sora when he came in. She didn't look up for a moment, as she was used to DiZ coming in a telling her what he needed to tell her, and she hadn't seen him for months. She had stopped waiting for him to come back. Go ahead, work yourself to death, I don't care, she had told herself. I don't know why I bothered to care in the first place. We aren't really friends-we just used each other to keep from going crazy, because we had no one else but each other. She told herself a lot of things that weren't true when she got to thinking about whether or not he was alive and alright, because if she let herself care, she ended up a mess.

"What, you didn't miss me? Where's my hug?" Crayon went jerking across paper before it snapped, but when she looked up to see him standing in the doorway like he used to do what felt like all the time months ago, she couldn't have cared less about anything else.

"Riku!" she shrieked, jumping up so quickly that her chair toppled over and nearly flew across the room to plaster herself to him in a hug so tight that Riku couldn't breathe for a moment, and her arms kind of hurt, but to both of them, it was something they had missed, but they would never admit to missing.

"Hey, I missed you, too," he chuckled, hugging her back gently. "Did you know the door is unlocked?" Namine nodded.

"Yes, DiZ hasn't locked it the past few times. Hasn't let me out of the mansion, but I'm not locked in this room anymore." It was almost possible to hear the smile on her lips in her voice. She was proud of herself, proud of the fact that DiZ trusted her enough not to lock the door to the white room anymore. Riku looked surprised for a moment, then shook his head.

"I guess I missed out on a lot of things, huh?" he asked, Namine nodded slowly.

"He's been letting me visit Sora," she said quietly, Riku stared down at her before letting her go and dropping heavily into one of the chairs at her table. Namine wandered back over to her own chair and sat down as well. "I wasn't sure I'd see you again," she finally said quietly, Riku looked up at her in spite of the blindfold covering his eyes.

"You made me a promise," he said wearily, as though that were the only possible explanation he could use. Namine sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"To look after Sora. I remember. I'm sorry... I'm not sure I've kept that promise very well." She hated the expression of confusion and hurt that spread across his face.

"What happened?" He all but growled out the words. Namine cringed back into the safety of her chair.

"Some of Sora's memories are missing." If she could have buried her head in her hands, she would have.

His reaction was less explosive than she would have expected. "How can that be?" he asked her.

"They're escaping through Sora's Nobody into a third person-and now they're starting to become a part of her." Namine knew she didn't need to elaborate on who the "her" was. They both knew—Xion.

"You can't get the memories back out." It wasn't a question, it was a harsh statement. Namine cringed back into her chair again.

"If they're still separate...then yes, I think so." Memories were such complicated things to manipulate; it was a wonder that she could understand it at all, really. She looked to the sketchbook on the table in front of her and sighed before launching into a continuation of her explanation. "But if they join with her memories, things get a lot more complicated. I would need to untangle her memory before I could finish Sora's... What was supposed to take months might take years. DiZ would be furious."

Riku frowned, placing his hands atop the table. "So what's the solution?"

"If I try to just jump in and rearrange her memory...then I risk Sora waking up to find out that nobody remembers him anymore. I can't do that to him. It's too late either way. His awakening will have to be delayed. I never imagined Sora's Nobody and the other one would fight so hard to be their own

people. Unfortunately, the only real solution...is for them both to go away." As she spoke, Namine's voice grew steadily quieter, and she found herself looking at the picture she had drawn yet again—Axel with his two friends; the two friends she had to take from him. Then she looked back up and Riku and smiled that sad little smile he had almost forgotten existed. "Did you know her face was blank at first? Only now can you see someone. That proves some of Sora's memories are inside her. Some inside her, some inside Sora...others inside Sora's Nobody... I can't sort it out anymore. All I can do is pick up the pieces once what has to be done, is done." Across the table from her, Riku was nodding.

"All right, then." He stood up, as if to leave, and Namine followed suit.

"Riku, please—" He silenced her with a raised hand and a smile.

"Don't worry, Namine," Riku told her. "I promise you that I'll come back. No wondering this time, got it? I'll try to keep visit's regular, but there's never any telling…"

"That's alright, it's just nice to know that you'll be coming back," she told him. Riku's smile faltered for a moment, and he stepped over to hug her quickly.

"I won't let myself leave anyone else waiting," he murmured, and then he let her go and was out the door in moments, like he had never been there to begin with, leaving behind nothing but the tentative smile on Namine's lips.

She really hoped he kept his promise, just like she prayed she could keep both of hers.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week, sadly, but there's more coming next week! Reviews are always appreciated, as you can see, and they have helped inspire me in the past as well. See you all next Tuesday/whatever day of the week it is for you!**


	22. Blame Flying

**A/N: Whoops, I'm a day late this time...curse the fact I procrastinated a bit on writing because it took forever to get the start right and the fact my router crapped out on me last night and refused to let me on the internet at all... Anyway, here have a chapter a day late. XD Thanks goes to Chibi for Betaing as well as everyone who reviewed last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own my ideas, SE owns theirs, got it memorized?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 22-Blame Flying <strong>

Axel came, like Riku, once more after a long absence from the white room. Unlike Riku, however, he was angry rather than cheerful.

He didn't use the door-he never did-and she only noticed when he began to speak. "She's gone, Namine, what did you do to her?" The question was filled with enough venom to kill, and it startled her, causing her to drop her crayon and look up.

"What? Who's gone? What are you talking about, Axel?" she asked, obviously confused by the sudden question, but it only seemed to anger the redhead more.

"Xion, Namine!" he practically shouted in spite the fact that he had appeared not but a foot or so away from her and he knew he was in trouble if someone found him there with her. "Xion is gone and no one knows where. There's a guy impersonating one of us going around, too, and considering you're the one working with Sora, this has you written all over it! What did you do to her?" By now, he had taken a few strides forward, to which Namine had responded to by trying to scramble like a madwoman to get out of her chair. This resulted in the chair flipping backwards unexpectedly and taking the girl along for the ride with a soft cry of both surprise and fear. The moment she understood what had happened, she scooted away from the chair and balled herself up, looking up at Axel with eyes full of fear.

"I didn't do anything to her-I didn't even know she was missing!" Namine protested, then the other words flew out of her mouth without thought. "I don't know anything until Riku comes back!" At once, her own hands flew up to slap over her mouth in response. Axel raised an eyebrow at her.

"The imposter's name is Riku? As in Sora's friend, Riku?" When she said nothing else, he smiled triumphantly.

"It's none of your business!" she snapped back belatedly, Axel only smiled. "You leave him alone! It's not his fault, he's doing what has to be done to save Sora, whether you like it or not!" The smile faded, and a single eyebrow raised again, the look was so infuriating that Namine honestly wanted to hit him, but she had no idea what Axel would do to her if she did, given their current situation.

"Being all big and tough now, are we, Nami?" She glared up at him, the eyebrow that had been raised fell back into place. His face showed nothing but defeat. "How long have you known?" It was a long time before she answered, looking up at the table rather than him.

"Since I met DiZ, I guess. I didn't know about Roxas until I saw him, or Xion until recently, when she began to block progress. I didn't want to have to hurt anyone else, I really didn't, but she's taking in his memories and making it almost impossible to get them back out and it's just snowballed into one big mess..." She shook her head and continued to focus on the table rather than Axel.

"Why didn't you warn me?" His voice was tight as he spoke.

"You knew the truth about who they were, Axel. You should have known." The words were sharp and bitter in her mouth, but they were the truth. He had hinted at it and he'd been part of the Organization's plan-how had he not expected it?

"Maybe I did, but it doesn't help when you don't want to see something, and I didn't want to see the obvious here... Even if I knew I would lose one or both of them eventually." She finally looked back to Axel again, and found him standing by the window, staring through the glass.

"We don't get to choose who we are allowed to keep in the end," she said so softly that the words were barely there-barely real, just like them and the others. The fiery-haired Nobody turned to look at her intently.

"That doesn't make the loss hurt any less." She presented him a joyless smile he was almost familiar with, one that spoke volumes about what she was thinking-here all it broadcasted understanding.

"I know," she admitted, blue eyes filled with sadness. "It doesn't make it hurt any less, doesn't eliminate or even lessen the guilt, it doesn't even make the knowledge that they won't be able to live out the lives they miraculously gained any less bitter. Even when you know they weren't meant to exist in the first place..."

"This whole situation just stinks." Axel had turned from her to punch the wall and hadn't noticed yet that Namine was now in tears.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, though if it was a response to Axel or her own thoughts, it was unclear. "This is all my fault. Everything could have been avoided if I had had enough sense to refuse to help Marluxia...if I had just-"

"It started long before you, Nami. It started years ago in a very different castle than the one you were found in. Don't blame yourself so much," he advised, moving back to her to crouch down and brush the tears off her cheeks. "It started long, long before you, Nami. You aren't the one to blame," Axel murmured, reaching out to pick her up and put her back on her feet before righting her chair and leading her back to it. When he left, she was still crying, looking down at the picture of Roxas and Xion standing with Sora, like a group of friends.

If she wasn't to blame, who was?

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week! Hopefully this next chapter will actually be up on time, like it should be... Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and see you all again (hopefully) next Tuesday!**


	23. Puppet Show

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter, and we've just got one to go until the end of part 2... I blame this chapter turning out the way it did on the fact I literally could not stop listening to The Civil Wars's Live at Eddie's Attic album (which can be found as a free download on the group's website, for fans who didn't know and anyone else interested)-particularly Falling, which I think really described this situation really well in my head. Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for waking up in time to beta, as well as Armyx for putting in his comments, as well as rushninja for reviewing! Now on with the chapter!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, unfortunately. Also, I don't own DJ Firewolf's 358/2 Days game script, but I did reference it for the text here.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 23-Puppet Show<strong>

When the door to the white room opened yet again, Namine was expecting Riku. She stood, but then she stopped herself from running to the one who had opened the door when she noticed that the figure under the coat was distinctly feminine. It seemed that Riku had finally sent Xion to her after what had seemed like an eternity of waiting for her. Namine felt a real smile tug at her lips as she gestured to the chair across the table from her. "Please, come in and have a seat, " she said warmly before seating herself once more. When the Nobody obstructing her ability to put Sora's memories together sat down and removed her hood, she nodded to her and began to speak again. "Nice to meet you...Xion."

"Namine, you can see my face?" a soft, feminine voice asked. Like her own, it didn't sound quite like Kairi's which was a bit startling for her, considering the girl was the spitting image of Kairi. Trying to keep this fact hidden, she nodded.

"Yes," she replied, and the copy of Kairi's face looked uncertain.

"What do you think I should do?" The girl sounded lost and confused, like a child. Namine wanted to give her some sort of comforting gesture, but she had no idea what to do, and the table was too long for her to reach across to Xion anyway. While she wanted to tell her that she needed to go back to where she belonged, to Sora, so she could finish fixing him, she knew that was wrong as well. If she didn't have to force the girl, she wasn't going to.

"What do you want to do?" she asked in reply. The girl frowned and looked over at the picture-covered walls of the white room, seeming to immediately zero in on a picture of herself alongside Axel and Roxas hanging amidst all of Sora's memories.

"I thought I knew at first. I wanted me and Roxas and Axel to be together forever. But then I started to realize these memories don't belong to me." The poor thing looked so lost, Namine wanted to jump up and tell her she understood, she had been there before, and she hadn't even had friends. Just memories that weren't hers and a boy she wanted so desperately to be her friend…and that was how this had all started.

"That's because you're Kairi. At least, the Kairi Sora remembers." How nice it would have been if someone could have explained her own role to her—but would she really have done what she was supposed to do if she had been told that her role was to be a puppet? She'd figured it out soon enough, as had this girl sitting across the table from her. At least she had her own face, Xion didn't even have a claim to that right.

"The more I remember, the more I feel like I'm in the wrong place...like... Like I need to go back." Namine smiled at her encouragingly, trying to break the girl's hesitation. It was uncomfortable for her to see the girl acting so much like the girl she used to be herself. She had stopped letting herself be hesitant what felt like ages ago, though by now it was just reaching the year point.

"Back to Sora?" she asked, Xion nodded quickly in reply. Now here came the part she dreaded, but just like Sora, she had to let the girl know what her decision would lead to and pray she picked the right choice. He had, hopefully she would as well and soon they could all bring this story to its conclusion. "If you return your memories to him, you'll disappear. And since everything about you was built on those memories...no one will remember you when you're gone. There won't be any "you" to remember. I can't save you, Xion-even a memory of you," she admitted quietly. The girl with Kairi's face, the true puppet, simply smiled at her—a smile she had felt on her lips so often before.

"I know. I'm ready. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. Roxas belongs with Sora, too. But...I don't think he would understand. Not yet." Namine nodded thoughtfully at that. It was true, Roxas was more independent than she was. He was more like Sora in that way, but she knew that soon he would have to meet Sora as well.

"He can't feel Sora. But he will." It was spoken with a certainty Namine didn't know she felt, but nonetheless, it seemed to make both of them feel better.

"Namine, will you watch over Roxas once I'm gone? You won't be alone. I asked somebody else to look after him, too. It's just...there isn't anything else I can do for him," Xion asked gently, and the request almost made Namine laugh. She had already been keeping an eye on Roxas, or as much of an eye as she could keep on him at the moment, anyway. That aside, there wasn't much else anyone could do for Roxas at this point—including her.

"All right," she agreed simply, though she was a bit surprised that the 'Of course,' that had been on the tip of her tongue hadn't come out instead.

"Thank you..." There that worried, lost look was again. Namine really wished she could do something about it, but how did one comfort someone after she had found out all that she had, that her life had never been her own, that she was really just a faceless puppet created with the expectation that she would never truly be anything more than that? There wasn't a way to do it.

"If you're ready, let's go see Sora."_ Sora_…it had been awhile since she had had good news for her sleeping friend. She thought about telling Xion that she would not be the only one who was forgotten, albeit the scale was much less minor, but that was the moment DiZ decided to explode into the room via dark corridor.

"Naminé, they've found us! They are on their way! That blasted puppet led them right to our doorstep! See what you get for trusting it?" She wanted to yell at him that it wasn't Xion's fault—she wasn't trying to fight against them, she had been ready to go to Sora and willing to do it, too. She wanted to tell him that "they" hadn't followed her, Axel (as it undoubtedly was Axel who had come after her, still determined to try and put up some semblance of a fight for his friends in spite the fact that he already knew their fate in the end) already knew the way, heck, he had been in the rooms plenty of times without him noticing or bothering to care, but as was typical, she couldn't say what she wanted.

"I'll get rid of them!" And Xion was up and walking across the room, going straight for the door. She stood up so fast that she could barely move the chair back fast enough.

"No! Xion..." she protested, but the door was already shutting on the image of Xion's back.

"See what you get for going against the plan yet again, Namine? A big mess, just like you landed yourself in before I began working with you." She didn't answer DiZ, just went to the window, where she could see Xion facing off with Axel in front of the mansion. A hand reached up to press palm-flat against the cool glass before curling into a fist—a useless, pale fist that had never struck anyone of anything in Namine's life and her forehand came to rest against the glass. Her eyes closed on the image of the fight between friends in the clearing and she bit her lip. Without bothering to see if DiZ was still there, she let out a choked sob.

"It shouldn't have been like this," she whispered. "It shouldn't have been, and I'm sorry. So sorry." And then in her mind echoed the words that she had said in frustration so many times before…_I'm sorry, I'm just not perfect…_

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week! See you guys next Tuesday for the conclusion to part 2. Please review if you liked anything/have anything to ask/comment on-it makes my day.**_  
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	24. Consequential TradeOffs

**A/N: Yes, I am aware this is not Tuesday, but I finished it and so I'm going to update now anyway! XD Anyway, here we are, chapter 24 and the end of part two of Perfectionism-two thirds of the way done! This chapter took a completely different turn than I originally expected it to, but I have to say that I really liked it ending up like this...and I have Bran-New Love Song by The Pillows to thank for it. I listened to the instrumental version nonstop when I found it about halfway through-it makes epic background music for this chapter... Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for sticking with me throught all of my crazy ideas and betaing this, as always, and thanks to Mirae-No-Sekai for reviewing!  
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**Disclaimer: I own my ideas and nothing else here. Square Enix and Disney own KH, not me.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 24-Consequential Trade-Offs<strong>

She knew that Xion was no more the moment it happened—all of a sudden, she had the urge to draw again, to take the memories that had suddenly been freed and link them together and finish what she had started. She had been in the process of doing just that when she found out she had also lost Riku, too. She had moved out of working in the white room to work in the pod room since her visit with Xion, tired of being alone or with DiZ, whose mood had grown increasingly fouler with each passing day. She was stretched out across the pod room's floor on her stomach, linking the free memories back together as they should have been before when he came in, carrying Roxas in his arms. He had the hood of his black coat up, so she didn't see his face at first, though she noticed the form under the coat. It looked like Riku had suddenly gained a massive amount of muscles in the time he had been away. It was when he spoke that she realized something was wrong. "Finally, now we have the other one," DiZ said looking up. "I have a holding cell prepared for him already, follow me."

"Or course," the figure both had thought to be Riku said, and Namine's eyes widened in shock. The voice coming from under the hood was deeper, not like Riku's voice at all. Even DiZ gave pause before gesturing him onward. What had happened to Riku during that fight, she wondered, but then again, would it have helped if she had known? Namine highly doubted it, remained silent, and went back to her drawing with a troubled mind. Some time afterwards, she found that she could not stand to be in the pod room any longer, and made her way back to the white room, passing DiZ and the person who might have been Riku on her way, however when she opened the door to the white room, it was Axel who was waiting for her.

"They're both gone?" he asked, and Namine was honestly surprised he had managed to remember Xion for this long.

"Xion, yes. Roxas…he still doesn't feel Sora, I'll have to keep working on him before it's time for him to go," she admitted quietly, Axel nodded.

"_That_ was her name? Xion? Wow, guess I just don't got it memorized…" Axel murmured thoughtfully. Namine smiled sadly at him and placed her sketchbook on the table before moving to him.

"Yes, her name was Xion. She and Roxas were two of your best friends, but she had to go back to Sora and because she was made by Vexen, eventually, you'll forget her, but you _do_ have it memorized—here," Namine reached out to press her hand over the spot where, had he been whole, Axel's heart would have been beating.

"But I don't—" Axel protested, Namine put a single finger on her other hand to her lips and shushed him.

"Axel, you _do_ have a heart. Maybe it's not with you right now, but you do have one, and those two are in it. If you didn't have a heart, you wouldn't call them friends, or fight so hard to stay with them, or be sad that they've been taken away from you…maybe they _made_ you a heart so you could feel what they did, share what friendship really meant with them…but however it happened, Axel, you have one. Got it memorized?" She laughed softly at the end as she used the line he said so often for once.

"That's my line, _Nami_," Axel shot back quietly. Namine grinned at him and shrugged.

"It seemed appropriate to say at the time, but do you get my point?"

"Yes, Namine, yes I do," he sighed, placing a hand over hers lightly before letting it fall back to his side. "I just wish I didn't have to lose the ones who gave me my heart…if you're even right." Namine laughed and pulled her hand away.

"Well, it's just a guess, really," she said, looking away as though she was embarrassed. "I wouldn't put too much stock in it."

"Well, you're the one who has power over memories. I figure you know what you're talking about to some degree at least." Axel shrugged, Namine shook her head and turned back to him.

"Not where 'hearts' of Nobodies are concerned—I can't say I understand those. I know that in Sora, his memories are something he holds close to his heart, but that's about all I know. I think, maybe, all Nobodies have hearts, they're just not the same as those of complete people. Maybe their proverbial hearts are where they hold their closest memories of when they were complete, the ones with the really strong emotion that they hold at the forefront of their minds when they wish they could feel. Maybe…maybe that's what a Nobody's heart is…" she sighed, and really looking at him as she finished, Namine found that his face wore an almost dazed expression.

"Where we keep our closest memories, huh…? You know, keep it up with lines like that, and I'll start to wonder whether you're really more cut out to be a poet rather than an artist, _Nami,_" Axel teased, and then he was gone in a slight swish of his coat bottom. With that, she returned to her usual seat and began to draw once more.

She was still drawing when Riku came in, knocking on the door almost shyly before he opened it. "Namine?" that too-deep, not-Riku voice called as the figure that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time stepped into the room. "I messed up. I really messed up…" He sounded like a scared child, even with his voice as deep as it was now. "He was too strong, the only way I was going to be able to bring him back was if I—"

"Shush," she interrupted suddenly, standing up from her chair. Slowly, she began to move towards him, trying not to upset him further than he already sounded like he was. "Whatever happened, Riku, it's okay. You came back, and you brought Roxas with you—you did what you had to to save a friend. I'm sure Sora will understand," she said, finally reaching up and putting her arms gently around him in her typical greeting hug. "I missed having company."

"Namine, I…" Riku stopped protesting as her arms went around him for the hug. "I don't look like I used to. I look like an enemy now. Sora would never understand…" Namine let go and reached for the hood hiding her friend's face. When Riku did not fight her, she flipped it back and swallowed a gasp as she realized that the features on Riku's face there the same she had seen on the illusory Ansem DiZ had created back in Castle Oblivion.

"What you look like, Riku, is a friend who did what he had to do to save his best friend. There is no reason to be ashamed or upset about that, I'm sure Sora will understand. That aside, think about it—you might not be the exact same friend he remembers, but it's better than being the friend he doesn't remember at all," she told him, smiling.

"I hate it when you smile like that," Riku said abruptly.

"Huh? Smile like what?" she asked, as though she didn't know.

"When you smile, but it doesn't reach your eyes. Your eyes still look sad as ever. Kairi, she never did that, you know."

"But you yourself said I'm different. I'm not all her."

"That you aren't, but you cheer me up like she used to. She was a master at stuff like that—teasing you and then making you feel better. She could be as rough as a boy sometimes, but when her best friends were Sora and I, she kind of had to be a bit rough…but I'm getting off the point here. You've made me feel a bit better, and you're right, I did what I had to. Sora should be awake soon, and while what happened to…her…and what will happen to the other isn't wonderful either, you have to remember—didn't you say he promised you that you would be friends for real when he woke up? And we'll have to take you to meet Kairi, too! I bet she'll be surprised to find out we made a new friend without her, especially since you're part of her. I'm sure you two will get along, though. It will be fun, you won't have to worry so much anymore, and you can explore all you want. No more locks, except for maybe your front door at night, if you're worried about someone coming in," he seemed to cheer up himself more and more as he spoke, and that cheer seemed to pass to her as well, though she knew it would probably never work out the way he envisioned at the moment. However, no matter how much it wouldn't work out in the future, Namine found herself smiling alongside the face Riku now wore as the cost for bringing back the one person that could wake up his best friend and allow him to go home once and for all.

Their whole story so far had been one of consequential trade-offs, she had traded off her chance at permanent happiness long ago, not that she minded very much, because it had brought her moments like the one she was sharing with Riku right now. Moments like sitting in Castle Oblivion alone, in a room that looked much like the one she sat in now, with the rain always pounding on the roof, like meeting a girl who played a game involving blue bats who spoke with an odd accent and mangled her words, being teased by Axel like they both had hearts, escaping the castle only to be tackled by Riku before continuing on to the place she had been to to begin with… Sure, her happiness would not be permanent, but giving up the permanent happiness she would have gotten from lies and altered memories would have prevented her from knowing what true happiness felt like and gaining real friends.

She wouldn't have changed her mind if she could have.

When Riku finally left, she felt her smile fade and wither away as she approached the table. Gently, she flipped over her sketchbook and looked down at the picture she had been drawing with nothing but sadness; it showed the scene that had played out almost two days before: Xion sitting across the table from her as she explained what the puppet-girl would eventually have to do. She tore the page off and pinned it to the wall as a tribute to the life lost due to Vexen's meddling and her mistakes. By the end of the week, she would not remember who that girl was, that the conversation in the picture had actually taken place, or the sacrifice she had so bravely made. She would remember, however, that it was somehow important enough to stay on the wall up until DiZ irritably forced her take it down due to its "irrelevance" to her work.

[Perfectionism: Part 2 **-END-**]

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that's all for now! I'm now out of school for summer, but I'm going to try to keep up with the weekly updates. If you liked the chapter, or have any questions, feel free to leave a review-I really do enjoy hearing what people have to say about my writing. Anyway, see you guys next update!**


	25. Fabrication

**A/N: Why hello readers, and welcome to the first chapter of part 3 of Perfectionism! The story has now moved into the KH2 timeline, which means this fic is now 2/3 of the way done-I can't believe it, and yet I can't wait to write more, as KH2 is where a whole host of interesting things happen... Anyway, thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing, as always, and Armyx for bugging me about getting this done, as I know it's been a long time since I last updated Hope you guys enjoy it!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own KH, I just own my ideas.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 25-Fabrication<strong>

She had been the one to talk DiZ into fabricating the fake Twilight Town for Roxas. As much as Namine hated lies after everything she had been through, it was the least she could do-she had taken him away from both his friends, though she only remembered the second one in flashes she didn't really understand and soon forgot while wondering why she thought he had had a second best friend. She based the world on the snatches of memories she picked up from him while trying to disentangle Sora's memories from his own and the things she saw in the real Twilight Town, on top of the things she could coax out of Axel and pass off as random ideas she thought were good. He had met Hayner, Pence, and Olette before and they had been nice to him, so wouldn't they make good friends for him? She had seen some guy and a girl playing this game that involved two people hitting each other with bats, seemingly for points-Riku supplied the game's name and collected the rules, while she suggested a tournament for later. Or course, if he was a normal boy, he would have summer homework from school to go with all these wonderful things she was coming up with, Riku added, smiling smugly. She protested the idea, but DiZ put it in anyway.

She and Riku spent a lot of time together in the pod room with Sora when he wasn't off running errand after errand for DiZ. He had distanced himself from DiZ a lot, recently, though. He was growing tired of the errands, and the man was getting more and more out of hand. She would lay on her stomach on the floor, paper spread all around her, along with a jumble of crayons, and she drew while he talked, occasionally responding or stopping him to ask a question. He seemed to like talking about his past, going over the same details tirelessly, as though he was trying to assure himself that he was still the same person he used to be, even with his changed appearance and her own assurances that he was still the same Riku-he rarely took his hood off anymore, not even for her. It made her worry about him more than ever, and push herself even harder to finish piecing Sora's memories back together. If he had his best friend back, maybe his mental state would improve, because the Nobody of his other best friend obviously wasn't helping as much as she used to anymore, though helping her fabricate a life for Roxas distracted him for a while. When she wasn't in the pod room with Sora and Riku, she was working in the white room, where Axel still visited her, getting more and more desperate every day as the situation with the Organization and Roxas got more and more messy.

"Xemnas is in a frenzy, Namine. He is almost desperate to find Roxas-whether or not he's alive or dead doesn't matter anymore because he's still sure there are other keys out there and they will finish the job Roxas started, Namine!" he had ranted one day, and papers had flown everywhere when he slammed his hands against the table. She quietly watched them flutter to the floor before just as silently scooting her chair back and starting to pick them up.

"What are you going to do, Axel? Take on Riku and DiZ to take him back?" she asked softly, still looking at the papers on the floor. On the table, Axel's hands curled into fists on the table as he hung his head.

"...I don't know, Namine. I really don't know."

"So you just came to rant and throw my drawings everywhere?" she asked him. Axel shook his head and backed away from the table.

"No, sorry," the Nobody sighed as he crouched down on the opposite side of the table and began picking up stray drawings as well.

"...Well, I can't let him out, he does have to go back to Sora, but I might be able to show you how to get in to see him." Axel's head popped up in surprise to stare at Namine, whose head had not moved. Her eyes were focused on the papers scattered over the floor, which she hadn't stopped picking up.

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked in disbelief. Namine just continued to pick up papers.

"If you get caught by DiZ, though, it has nothing to do with me, understand?" Axel's jaw nearly fell off. Was she really saying what he thought she was? Offering him what he thought she was offering him? "Gotta put on a good show, right? Besides, I owe you. For telling me to go."

"You had nothing to do with it if I get caught. Got it memorized," Axel said quietly. For the first time since she had started picking up papers, Namine stopped and looked at him.

"It won't work unless Riku helps, though."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Axel sputtered in pure surprise. Namine only smiled and shook her head at him.

"He knows how to work the computers, and someone has to keep DiZ busy. Riku has to help, otherwise it won't work," Namine insisted. When Axel looked at her like a madwoman, Namine sighed. "He's just as much a victim here as any of us, Axel. He doesn't like DiZ, and he just wants his best friend back...is that so bad a thing to want, Axel?" When he didn't answer, Namine spoke up again. "Is it?"

Axel stood back up with the papers he'd picked up in hand and placed them on the table. "No, I guess it isn't," he murmured.

"I thought so," she replied as the sound if steps made themselves heard in the hallway. When Riku opened the door, Axel was long gone, but Namine was not. She sat on top of the white table, something she'd never done before, looking over the crayon-covered papers in her leave. When she looked up, she smiled nervously at him and spoke up.

"Riku, I have a really big favor to ask you."

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this update! As it is summer, I'm not sure when I'll update again, but don't worry-this fic will be come to a conclusion eventually. XD**


	26. Plotting Insubordination

**A/N: Oh my gosh, it has been waaaaaay too long since I last uploaded a chapter! It feels so nice to be doing this again...and on another Tuesday! Anyway, I 'd like to welcome you guys back to chapter 26 of Perfectionism! Thanks goes out to Chibi for betaing, as always, as well as Armyx for giving me his two-cents worth and chatting with me during my massive writing slump, as well as Waiting for Wings (Wings) who took it upon themselves to ask me to keep writing when I was about two days into writing this chapter. XD You guys are awesome!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own KH, as much as I wish I could...it'd be pretty cool to see this as an actual series of cutscenes, wouldn't it? I just own my ideas, most of which make up this chapter. :)  
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><p><strong>Chapter 26-Plotting Insubordination<strong>

"Are you _insane_?! Do you even understand how much danger Sora is in right now because your little friend has been paying you visits? Do you, Namine?" Namine cringed as Riku's voice rose to a shout.

"Shhh! If you would give me a moment to explain-" Riku cut her off before she could finish.

"You've already done enough explaining," he growled, turning and taking a step towards the door. Entirely too adamant on making her plan work, the Nobody did something neither expected-she hopped off the table and darted forward to grab one of the sleeves of Riku's coat and held on tightly.

"No, I haven't, seeing as you're still bent on running to DiZ and telling him. I'm smarter than you're giving me credit for being right now , and if you would hold on for five minutes, you'd understand that not only am I not insane, but that Sora's not in any danger," she countered fiercely. Riku's hood-covered head turned to look down at her in response and he regarded her in silence for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he sighed.

"Fine, explain." Namine let go of his sleeve and gestured back to the table.

"Why don't you sit down and take your hood off?" she suggested, however Riku just shook his head.

"Explain, Namine." The Nobody girl sighed before she moved back to the table herself and sat down again.

"First of all, he's the one back at Castle Oblivion who convinced me to act on my wishes to right my wrongs and want to save Sora. Second of all, he's been coming here for months. Before we knew about Roxas, before we knew we needed him to make Sora whole again. When he first came here, I thought he was going to take me back to the Organization or kill me, but he didn't. He didn't do much more than tease me when I slipped up and admitted what I was doing here, though he seemed genuinely angry when I told him I was locked in at that point. When we took Roxas, he could have done something then, but he did nothing more than yell and throw papers. He deserves the chance to say goodbye, Riku, and the chance to put on one last show for his higher-ups, even though he understands Sora waking up is important. Besides, it'll grate DiZ's nerves if he finds out after the fact, and you seem to be about as fond of DiZ as I am, and if anything goes wrong, I'll take all the blame, though I don't think anything will be a problem, so long as you can teach me how to get him into the fake Twilight Town and distract DiZ for him."

"Knock on wood," Riku grumbled in reply. Namine laughed as Kairi's memories supplied the meaning to the phrase and flashed Riku a big smile.

"You're going to help, then?" she asked, and Riku nodded slowly.

"How can I not when you make such a good argument? It will annoy DiZ, and if he's just as much a victim as the rest of us here... I'll admit it; if he is, he deserves the chance to say goodbye...and maybe stir up some trouble in the process. I mean, what kind of supposed villain just lets a stolen mem-"

"Friend. Roxas was his best friend. He's not just another member of some exclusive club to him. To Axel, Roxas is his best friend." Namine was sure that Riku looked surprised under the hood obscuring his face.

"Well then, what kind of villain lets the enemy get away with stealing his best friend without a fight?" She could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"He loves being theatrical, I expect Axel will be ecstatic the moment I tell him what you just said," she informed him, and she almost imagined seeing a single silver eyebrow rise at her in question before Riku spoke again.

"Loves? Ecstatic? Isn't he a Nobody? I know you are, but you're...different. Kairi is still living. Whoever he was probably isn't." Namine could only smile back.

"We all have our special cases, I think. He acts so often like he has a heart that it makes me wonder, to be honest. And if it's just acting, he'll still act like he loves being theatrical and he'll still act ecstatic over the prospect of getting to cause a little chaos because he's Axel-it's what he does." Riku laughed softly, and finally walked toward her to pull up a seat at the table. "What?" she asked, "What's so funny?"

"You really did make a friend out of him, didn't you?" Riku asked, Namine laughed too.

"I think I did. Now, how about starting to explain the computers to me?" she asked, thinking of a picture that lay amidst the pile on the table; one that she'd made sure to grab before Axel saw it when he had scattered them everywhere earlier. She'd thoughtlessly drawn herself standing between Riku and Axel, trying something new with her powers for once and attempting to see if her drawings needed to be related to the memories she was working on. Amazingly, they didn't, and while Namine knew she'd have to hide the picture, she also realized she had formed her own trio of close friends. A trio she had never actually expected to work together, until Axel had shown up earlier.

When Axel came in, she was drawing again, piecing together Sora's memories as she was supposed to be doing. "So? How'd it go?" he asked her, sitting down on the table as she had not so long before. Namine looked up and smiled before putting her crayon down.

"Riku is in. He's in the process of explaining how the computers work to me right now, so then I can explain it to you or just run everything for you, and he's going to try to keep DiZ distracted." She left out the part about how they would be conducting their own test run that might have the plan exploding in their faces, which was something Namine had decided was probably best, until they could see whether or not it would work. Axel's face lit up with surprise and happiness.

"Seriously, Nami?!" he gasped, she nodded, still wearing that smile.

"Yes, Axel. Seriously. Hopefully you'll be able to see him soon," she told him. As he handed her a familiar blue bar of sea salt ice cream, Namine thought back to the picture hidden under the paper pile on her table. _Friends,_ she thought. _I have real friends, ones who are working together, even if they haven't met yet._

**A/N: And that's it for this time. Hopefully you guys won't have to wait that long for a chapter again...I'm kind of hoping to go back to regular Tuesday uploads if all goes well. It would make my day if you took the time to write down your thoughts on the fic and leave them in a review or PM...or even if you have a few suggestions on things you want to see. I'm coming up on a big block of time to kill with headcanon while KH2 is going on, and if you want to see something that doesn't have to do with pairings, let me know-I might like the ideas. Also, for you people with dA who remember and liked Aura from chapter 17... FermonsNosYeux did a lovely commish for me with Namine and Aura, and they do amazing KH fanart-you should totally check them out! Anyway, thanks for reading, see you next upload. :)**


	27. Breaking and Entering

**A/N: Yeah, I suck, I know. XD ...So I was busy last night drawing out the lineart for the Part 3 cover art, and Chibi apparently fell asleep after getting partway through reading over the chapter anyway, so I didn't get to upload this chapter last night, but better a little late that months late, right guys? ...No? Okay, then... Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter and the new cover art-I hope to have the colored version up soon!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own KH, as much as I might wish I did; I just own the fanfic ideas and the writing...though a little bit of this chapter took a few lines from the game...  
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><p><strong>Chapter 27-Breaking and Entering<strong>

"He's poring over documents in the library. You have one shot, and if you mess up, this entire plan is done for. Axel can kiss the thought of seeing Roxas goodbye. The corridor leads to the computer room, and if you can't do anything from there, you can wait ten minutes and sneak back into the white room with caution. I'll check back when I'm done distracting. I wouldn't stay very long, maybe long enough to meet him, if you really want to do anything, other than assure that this works... And if you get caught-" Riku was cut off as Namine spoke up.

"None of us are connected. I just wanted to meet Roxas," she said firmly, as if she believed the fabricated excuse herself. Riku's hand on her shoulder tightened, as if he didn't want to let her go alone.

"Good luck, Namine. Try not to get into too much trouble. I'll help where I can," Riku murmured in her ear, like he was worried DiZ might overhear, even though he was supposed to be in the library, a room located across the mansion from the white room. Namine smiled and patted his hand.

"Have fun distracting DiZ, and Riku? Thank you for trusting me with this." Riku gave a soft laugh in that deep voice that wasn't his. Namine flinched at the unexpected and rare sound.

"I wouldn't thank me until this is over." Namine bit her lip and nodded to him.

"Well, then, let's get this over with," she sighed before taking off into the dark corridor Riku had opened for her and refusing to look back. It was only a few moments before she found herself tossed out of the corridor and into the computer room, where the computer housing Roxas was kept. It only took Namine a moment to hurl herself into tapping away at the keys; Riku had been a fairly decent teacher, and being an artist, she was used to visualizing things in her head before she drew them, and it came in handy now.

"Okay, so enter the transfer code," she breathed to herself, fingers flying across the keyboard. "And set the timer..." She only gave the timer a few seconds before smacking the "Enter" key triumphantly and running to the grate on the other side of the keyboard just in time to get hit by a bright light. She didn't see it, but she certainly felt herself fly apart before she was swallowed by blackness.

When her sight returned, Namine found herself standing next to a small fenced-in area and orange walls and smiled. "I did it," she whispered, followed by a much louder, cheerful "I did it!" in celebration. The moment the words left her mouth, she felt silly, and she knew Riku and Axel both would have laughed at her for it. "C'mon, Namine, you've got a mission. Roxas," she reminded herself sternly before taking off, though she wasn't entirely sure where she was going. She didn't have to far, though, as she found Roxas within moments. She watched as two of the town kids she had suggested DiZ program to be his friends freeze up, but she expected that, Riku had said something similar would happen. She wasn't supposed to be a living being in Roxas's Twilight Town, and her presence would cause the programmed residents of the town to lock up until she was out of the area. Namine slowed her run to a walk as she approached the now bewildered boy she had never had the chance to meet in person, and smiled at him.

"Hello, Roxas," she said in greeting, suddenly unsure how to proceed. The boy before her looked confused, not that it bothered her—how could he recognize someone he'd never met while awake?

"Uh... Hi... And you are...?" She didn't have time for long explanations, and it was best she didn't explain to him at this point, anyway. Rather than letting him continue, she held up her hand, and he quieted.

"I wanted to meet you at least once," she told him, suddenly realizing that she really _had_ wanted to meet him. Not just because of Axel's wish to see him again, but because he was part of Sora, because he was yet another being she had dragged into this mess she had created. Again, the sandy blond looked confused, to the point that Namine almost wanted to laugh at him.

"Me?" she bit back the urge to laugh once more.

"Yes, you." It was about time she left. It was a short and awkward conversation, but she had gotten to meet him, there wasn't much else she could do without getting caught—which was something she _really_ didn't need to happen. She nodded wordlessly to him before heading out the way opposite which she had come in, heading past the two that had frozen. _Well, that was unimpressive,_ she thought unhappily as she walked through the tram area of Roxas's Twilight Town and headed back towards the woods, taking the same pathway to the mansion she would have if she had been in the real Twilight Town.

She was going through the procedures to log out and return to the real mansion when the system alert went off, stating that Roxas was under attack and losing fast. "What…? Does that mean it's real or—" Namine's musing was cut off by the alert going off again. She was suddenly struck by a memory of Riku telling her that once you were inside the system, many of the controls were voice activated, you just had to know what to say, and that was simple enough… "System, take me to the Sandlot!" she barked. Whether Roxas was in real danger or not, she wasn't just going to let him lose…or 'die.' In a blink, she found herself on a building, overlooking the Sandlot, where Roxas was struggling against a group of Dusks, along with the kids she had seen before with Aura. She realized suddenly that Roxas had no weapon—no wonder he was losing!

"Roxas! Use the Keyblade!" The words flew out of her mouth before she could think, and Roxas glanced up, his eyes meeting hers and flashing in recognition before he attempted to block a Dusk with his hands, and he vanished in a burst of light. "How in the—no, that doesn't matter. System, find Roxas and take me to him!" she ordered frantically, wondering what in the world was going on. In another blink, she found herself floating in white nothingness. The system pinged, and a message box floated before her face: _"Requested location does not exist. Reword your search and try again."_

"Try again? What do you _mean_ try again?! How can you not find him?" she demanded to know, now confused and alarmed. "System, find Roxas and take me to his location." She didn't move this time, and the system pinged again, announcing the reappearance of the same message box from before. "No. Nonononono—this is a computer system, he cannot just be gone…DiZ is going to _kill _me if he's seriously gone!" she muttered to herself, and then another thought struck her: she was running out of time. This was followed immediately by another thought: _What's a little breaking and entering if I manage to find where the system sent him?_

"System, continue searching for Roxas. Alert me the moment you find him." Namine's frustrated snap was rewarded with a few minutes later, with a ping and the appearance of yet another message box.

"_Subject [Roxas] is in peril. Would you like to teleport to his location?"_ Namine nearly screamed.

"YES! Take me to his location!" she shouted in reply, and was teleported to an area of absolute blackness, and Roxas was fading away before her. "Oh no you don't!" she growled, reaching out and grabbing his hand, the closest thing to her.

"System, take us to my previous location!" There was a flash of blinding light, and suddenly they were back in the white area, her sitting on a large cube-like projection sticking out of the "wall" and Roxas on the floor below her, looking up. After a moment, he opened his mouth, and Namine raised her hand once more, putting her finger to her lips.

"My name is Namine," she started, slowly, before he could say anything else, more words spilled out of her mouth. "Roxas... Do you remember your true name?" Roxas' face twisted in confusion for a moment before his eyes traveled up, over her shoulder. Suddenly Namine found herself being hoisted into the air by her arm.

"Say no more, Namine," The voice Namine was so familiar with rumbled from just behind her; it seemed her time was up. For the sake of a good performance, Namine fought to keep a smile off her face.

"But if no one tells him, Roxas will…!" she countered loudly, though what Roxas needed to know, she had no idea. Maybe that his life was entangled in a mess of mistakes that were all her own? That he would no longer exist soon? That his life would have to be given up to bring someone else back? She had no idea, but it was theatrical enough that Axel would have loved to have seen it—she knew that for sure. Riku played along, and once again, she could almost imagine a smile on his face under the hood.

"It's best he doesn't know the truth."

"Hey! You're that pickpocket!" Namine blinked in surprise as Riku put her down on her feet and hopped down to conjure a dark corridor behind Roxas and push him in. That done, he turned and looked back up and her, gesturing for her to join him.

"Come on, Namine, before DiZ gets here and finds us both," he said, and she hopped down to join him.

"You're clear to break in, as long as you remember everything I told you. If you don't, Axel…" Namine sighed, looking down at the drawing of her red-haired friend and Roxas together. Axel patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, _Nami_, I got it all memorized. I won't be caught—I promise you that." She looked up to find him sitting on the table near her, smiling. He didn't know the door was locked again. He didn't know that DiZ was absolutely furious, nevermind the fact she'd saved Roxas from a very untimely end before Sora's completion. He didn't know plenty of things she probably should have told him, but why ruin his good time—he would get to see his best friend soon enough—she'd seen to that. It was about time he got to show off his theatrical ability, too. She couldn't wait to hear his feats from both himself and Riku—she had paid to see this with the price of her breaking and entering…Namine could only hope she got her money's worth out of the ensuing show.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that's it for this week! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and if you did, please review and let me know what you liked, or if you have questions or recommendations on future chapters. Feedback makes my day, seriously, tell me what I'm doing right-or if 'm doing something wrong, please? Anyway, hopefully I'll be uploading again next week, so farewell for now!**


	28. Elimination Orders

**A/N: Whoot, time for chapter 28! I cannot believe I'll have nearly 30 chapters soon... It's crazy. Anyway, I really had fun with this chapter, mostly because of the end. XD Sorry for the time skip, however, I couldn't find much more to add to those last few scenes she actually was in in the game, and most of her last scene with Roxas seems to have been a Namine made of data, so yeah... As always, thanks goes out to Chibi for proofreading and dealing with me. Hope you guys enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or its characters, just my ideas for this story, Aura, and the cover art for the fic.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 28-Elimination Orders<strong>

"_I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid." _The words she'd said not very long ago floated through her head as she followed Riku through the Dark Corridor…or maybe 'was dragged by Riku' would have been a better way to put it. He held her by the wrist, forcing her to practically run behind him to keep from being pulled off her feet by Riku's unrelentingly fast and long-legged stride. The past few days now felt like a blur, but she wasn't seeing her existence flashing before her eyes, or anyone else's, for that matter. There was no phantom film reel playing before her eyes like she thought she remembered someone saying happened before you died.

She wasn't upset, she had expected it. Actually, Namine was pretty sure she deserved it…and if it meant no one could use her to hurt Sora or anyone else again, she was fine with that. When they reached wherever Riku decided the end of the line would be, she would not speak, she would not cry, she would not beg for him to do anything different than what he had been ordered to do: eliminate her. She would not make it harder for him; if it would even be hard in the first place—she had taken his best friend from him, after all, and had been part of the reason he could not return home, had had to hunt down a single Nobody who didn't deserve to be hunted down, and had a hand in his change in appearance. She wouldn't have been surprised if he hated her, but she wasn't going to bother asking, either. She didn't want to know if what she had thought had been at least a slight friendship they had was really a lie, instead, she found herself remembering the chaos that had ensued just before Riku had summoned the Dark Corridor and pulled her into it with him by the wrist.

Axel's exit had been award-worthy, faked death and all. Namine had begun to wonder if he was getting too good at faking them, considering this was falsified death number two, from what she had heard, and it had been brilliant. She had even heard Riku mutter something about theatrics before they left, which was saying something, considering how they had exited, her shouting to Roxas that they would meet again, even if they didn't recognize each other as she was being pulled into a computer generated Corridor, _after_ DiZ had tried to silence her with a hand over her mouth once. They were all getting a little too good at acting for her liking, if she had decided to be totally honest with herself… Like how Riku had managed to act like he knew nothing about how the data version of her had gotten into the mansion to talk to Roxas one last time, and how he had no idea how she'd gotten out of her room the time before that, the time related to the quote she'd just remembered.

DiZ was a patient man, but his patience only lasted until his goal was completed. Now that it was, this was the end for both herself and Roxas, though in completely different ways…or so she thought.

Finally, she couldn't stand the silence any longer, even though she had promised herself she wouldn't talk. "Thanks for making me feel like I had a friend, Riku," she murmured, and surprisingly, Riku froze.

"What are you talking about, Namine?" he asked slowly, sounding confused.

"The act. The hugs, the letting me out, the reassurances. Thanks for the act, even though you probably hate me." The hand around her wrist flexed before Riku pulled on her harder and started walking again.

"None of that was an act. I don't hate you, how can I hate a friend who has endured almost as much as I have?" he replied, sounding hurt, and it was then Namine's turn to freeze. Riku's next stride yanked her forward against her will, tipping her off balance and sending her to her knees on the invisible floor of the Dark Corridor's passageway. Riku took another step before he noticed she'd basically become dead weight, and stopped as well. "Come on, get up. We need to hurry," he sounded almost nervous now. Namine could do nothing but stare back up at him.

"Why?" she found herself asking, though she had no idea what made her speak.

"Because I don't need DiZ finding out I'm bad at following elimination orders where friends are concerned. I'm not 'disposing' of you; I can't. Now come on," he explained, though he had already begun to help her up himself. It was only sheer surprise, which was numbing her that kept her on her feet and moving when he got her standing and on the move again. However, Riku's attempt to free her hit a hiccup when they stepped out into a Twilight Town alleyway.

Namine only caught the howl of "You _rotten_—" before a black and red blur came barreling down the alleyway at insane speeds, and the smell of something burning caught her off guard before Axel plowed into Riku. "_I_ _knew it!_" the redhead snarled as he grappled with her still-hooded friend. "How am I not surprised that the plan was to kill her in the end, even after everything she's done to fix her mistakes?!" For a moment, Namine stood completely stunned once again. "However I'm not going to let that slide, you aren't taking another friend from me!" It was with that that Namine moved into action—if someone didn't explain she wasn't in any danger and fast, one or both of the only two people who seemed to really care about her were going to get hurt.

"I'm not—" Riku protested before he had to devote his attention to dodging a chakram-wielding fist flying at him.

"Axel! Hold on," Namine started, however the somehow furious Nobody didn't stop, whether he heard her or not. "Axel!" she yelled again, only to be ignored a second time. He was still too busy swinging at Riku, the one who had been, contrary to orders, trying to save her rather than kill her off. Riku continued to try to protest as well, but it was doing about as much good as talking to a brick wall would have done. "Axel!" she shouted once more, but it wasn't working. Neither Riku's protests, nor hers were catching the Nobody's attention, and that meant their time continued to tick. It didn't take long to get kill, or in a Nobody's case, eliminate, someone. She knew that from her time spent in Castle Oblivion, and she wondered what DiZ would think if Riku wasn't back soon, one less "witch" in tow.

There was one option left: distract him long enough to explain, and the only distractions she could think of had the possibility of being deadly. However, it was the only option left. Everyone else had put something on the line so far-now it was her turn.

With speed she didn't know she had, Namine ran to where Riku and Axel fought…or where Axel was swinging and Riku was dodging. With a wince, she shoved herself between the two, expecting to get skewered with a chakram, which were now flaming, and shoved herself forward, into Axel when she found she hadn't been, screaming "_Axel, stop!_"

The chakrams hit the ground, fire around them sputtering out. "Riku isn't trying to kill me. He's trying to _save_ me." When she looked up to his face, Axel was staring down at her, surprise written all over his face.

"Friends watch out for friends, keep them safe," Riku said behind her, a hand suddenly falling on her shoulder lightly. "They also trust one another." Namine winced at the reference to their crazy series of break-in schemes. "I don't know you personally, but you seem to consider Namine a friend, and she seems to think highly of you…can I trust you to take her someplace safe? I have someplace else I need to be, and I don't need you attempting to kill me for no reason."

Axel's eyes snapped to Riku and he frowned before looking down at the Nobody girl sandwiched between them that they both seemed to call their friend. "If only to keep her safe from you, I'll do it," he said sharply, and Namine cringed again. They had been on the same side not that long ago, now here they were trying to kill each other to keep the same person safe.

"I'll take that. Make sure she stays someplace no one will think to look. When everything has calmed down here, I'd like to talk to you both again. I'll meet you on Sunset Hill as soon as it's safe, if I can find where you left her, I'll bring Namine. If not, I expect you to come alone and go get her after." Riku's instructions were specific, and Namine watched Axel nod.

"Got it memorized," he said, and pulled a smirk out of nowhere before rapping his head with his knuckles gently.

"Then take the girl and go. I'll be seeing you two soon, with luck." With that, Riku produced another Dark Corridor and stepped into it without looking back. She could swear she still felt his hand on her shoulder.

"You see, the thing is, I have my own problems to clear up, unfortunately…and you certainly can't go back to the Organization, now can you, _Nami_?" Axel murmured. "Hmm, that friend of yours, Aura…do you happen to know if she would be opposed to you moving in temporarily?" he asked, and Namine blinked. It seemed yet another was getting sucked into the mess.

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><p><strong>AN: Sooooo, it the end of yet another chapter! Hopefully the next one will come soon...and yes, it features lots and lots of a certain brown haired OC who speaks with an accent and likes playing Struggle. She's back thanks to a few people asking about her and my own ideas, so hopefully you all will enjoy her. Also, I'm still up for ideas and suggestions on things you guys would like to see in some future chapters, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of how the story is going right now. Anyway, see you all soon!**


	29. Reunion

**A/N: Wow, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry, I've been a bit busy, and finally managed to finish getting this chapter done last night while on the way home from LA. Thanks goes out, as always, to Chibi for proofing. For those who have trouble reading Aura's speech, try reading it out loud-I used phonetics to write for her, hopefully it will help to understand her if you give it a try.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH or it's characters, but I do own Aura and the ideas for this story.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 29-Reunion<strong>

It was amazing to see how friendly the residents of Twilight Town, really were. Just as the girl had said when they first met, all she had had to do was ask the nearest resident, in this case, a girl with messy brown hair falling over her shoulders and curious green eyes who added that her name was Olette before they parted ways, and she knew where to start looking for Aura. As she walked away with Axel hovering at her side, Namine belatedly realized she'd just talked to one of Roxas' friends from the fake Twilight Town.

When it turned out Aura wasn't at the Sandlot, where Olette had suggested they look, it only took another question about her to an older man standing by a board that contained all the rules to find out that she was probably still home (he hadn't seen her yet), and that she lived in one of the few small apartment complexes contained only on Sunset Terrace. It didn't take long to find her from there-her name was boldly emblazoned on a wooden doorplate in beautiful, flowing script. Her home was located at the top on the complex, which was a pretty building dotted with windows and balconies on the outside, walls the same dusty orange color as many of Town's buildings.

Namine had bickered with Axel over who would knock on the way over, and he had finally given in to letting her do it. She knocked softly, just below the doorplate, and they waited for a moment. Impatient, Axel reached over her shoulder and knocked again, louder this time.

"'Old on a moment, will ya?" a familiar female voice snapped. "I'll be at tha door in a sec-" Aura barked, cutting off as something inside the apartment made a loud crashing noise. The girl muttered something but it wasn't clear what she was saying before the door flew open. "Now wha-Namine?" The look of surprise on her face was almost comical. Namine raised a hand and waved, smiling weakly.

"Hi, Aura," she offered softly. The brown-haired girl looked from Namine to Axel and frowned.

"Yer friend, 'o is 'e?" she asked suspiciously, nodding at Axel. "Or is 'e not a friend at all?"

"He's close enough to being a friend right now... Anyway, Aura, I'm here for a reason. Is there any way I could stay with you for a while?" Namine asked with a sigh. The young woman's eyebrows shot up.

"May I ask wh-"

"Look, I don't have time to stand around for a whole Q and A session. Can you be trusted to keep Namine safe or not, Rosalynn Sails?" Axel cut Aura off, and before Namine quite understood what was going on, she was being pulled into the apartment the same time Aura flew out of it. Something glinted in the town's permanent twilight a moment before a loud ringing sound ripped through the air.

"'Ow the world d'you know that name?!" she demanded, trying to push the sword closer to Axel. "Tell me!" Axel only smirked at her, continuing to hold the girl off with his chakrams.

"Pretty easy, really. They searched for you for months, you know? Your name was everywhere, not that you go by it anymore. I bet your parents-" Aura practically shoved herself forward, trying to get at Axel, however his chakrams prevented it.

"Shut up!" she shouted. "Don't try guilting m'into anything. I don't need you telling me abou' m'rents!" Axel's smile only grew.

"Good," he murmured pushing her back easily. "If anyone other than me or a guy named Riku tries to come for Namine, remember how mad you are at me right now and tear them to shreds. Don't let me down either, or I will drag you back to your parents, Rosalynn," he said as he pushed the girl back into the apartment. Aura let out strangled cry and dove for the door, sword still in hand, however Axel had slammed it shut, causing the young woman to slam into the door.

With that, Aura made a growling sound and turned, ramming the sword into the floorboards of her apartment. "Um, Aura?" Namine asked softly as the girl stalked off, leaving the sword embedded in the floorboards.

"What?" she snapped back, glancing over her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" she asked timidly. Aura gestured toward another part of the apartment quickly, without turning.

"T'put on some tea so I dun go chasin' afta yer friend. I'm highly tempted to put a sword in 'is gut tha next time I see 'im," she grumbled before seeing to realize that Namine was now her responsibility. "Wan some? An go 'ead and make yerself comf'table. I s'pose ye'll be stayin' 'ere fa some time, eh?" Namine blinked, trying to make out what in the world Aura had just said. It took her a moment before she finally answered.

"No thank you. I don't know how long I'll be here, really, and I'm sorry for intruding, but you were the only person I could think to trust here..." her words hung in the air as Aura turned to glance back at her.

"Didja friend tell ya'bou' me?" she asked suddenly before she laughed and shook her head. "Tha' was a real o'vious ansa-ya wouldn' 'ave come 'ere if 'e 'ad. I'm not 'xactly one ta be trusted-m'name's not really Aura, yer friend knew that, though I'm not sure 'ow. I's Rosalynn, bu' dun tell 'nyone, please. I've been tryin' ta distance myself from m'past since I left..."

"I know all about trying to distance yourself from your past-I've been trying to fix one mistake for the past year, and now look where it's gotten me," Namine offered. Aura laughed and gestured for Namine to follow her.

"Well come on, then, we can throw a pity party 'n trade stories t'nigh', and in the mornin' I'll show ya 'round-I 'sume ya neva got t' see much of Twiligh' Town?" she asked. Namine shook her head.

"I haven't," she admitted moving after the young woman. It wasn't the kind of reunion with Aura she had expected, but Namine hadn't even expected to see the girl again at all. Now that she was with the girl again, Namine felt a small twinge of happiness; it seemed she had another real friend, one who wasn't much different from her. She might have technically been on the run, but that wouldn't stop her from enjoying the time she had with Aura-she didn't know how much time with this friend she would get.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's it for this week; hopefully it won't take so long to get the next chapter done. **** Again, I'm still up for ideas and suggestions on things you guys would like to see in some future chapters, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of how the story is going right now. Anyway, see you all soon!**


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